A Charmed Story 9: I, Myself And The Elders
by crazyDFFgang
Summary: Life is hard. Let alone if you're an Elder, a parangon of all Good, a husband, father, son, brother, nephew and friend. You have to write spells, fight demons, give advice and change diapers. Let alone... if you also have to deal with yourself. !COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

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* * *

A Charmed Story - Part Nine:  
I, Myself And The Elders  
Chapter 1**

Chris rubbed his tired eyes. It was three o'clock in the morning... He had had a long day the day before, with another long talk with Steve and some demon-vanquishings in order to find Rhashirk... which he didn't. Still he had no idea, what all this had to do with the Elders, who are not very pleased about him, lately. Anyway... He had to hold a class the next morning at eight... and an exam to watch at ten...  
But all that... all those things didn't bother his little girl who was again crying desperately.  
He turned to the side to watch his wife. Bianca had just woken up, too. He sighed, looking at her. "Am I now allowed to heal her?" he asked.  
"No," Bianca said firmly. Chris buried his face in his pillow frustrated. "Look," Bianca said, "she's just a little ill with her stomach, that happens often to two-month-old babies... She has to get through this the natural way... And now sleep, I'll take care of her."  
Chris sighed. That reminded him a lot of his own mother... He grasped the pillow and put it over his head, especially his ears. But he couldn't fall asleep again. He sighed and stood up.  
Quietly he leaned in the doorframe observing his wife and his daughter who calmed down a little.  
"So that's what you call sleeping?" Bianca asked.  
Her husband grimaced: "You know I can't sleep when my little princess is crying." He went over to them and took the little girl to his arms. He smiled, while the little girl looked at him with big eyes, suddenly silent. Chris chuckled a little, then turned back to the bedroom.  
"What are you doing?" Bianca asked.  
"I'll go to sleep... and when my baby calms down when she's close to us, she will sleep with us... in the middle," Chris said grinning tiredly. He placed the baby in the middle of the bed on his own pillow and lied down next to her. Her fingers closed around one of his, the girl immediately fell asleep again. So did Chris only seconds later.  
Bianca carefully lied down on the other side of the bed. "Oh honey... you're spoiling her soooo much..." she whispered, then she closed her eyes, too.

°°°°°°°°°°

The next mid morning, Chris met his aunt on his way to the classroom. "Good morning," Paige greeted. Chris just grimaced. So his aunt turned around to join him on his way. "Baby-cries?" she asked.  
He nodded. "How is the work going on at home?" he asked then.  
Paige smiled: "That's why I'm here... Even if they are magical craftsmen, they still ARE craftsmen, and since seven o'clock they are making a lot of noise!" Chris couldn't help grinning.  
Then he reached his classroom. "Don't fall asleep over you're notes," his aunt said and then she left him alone. Chris took a deep breath, then he entered the classroom.  
All the laughter and talking stopped suddenly, and silence invaded the room, as all the students turned to look at their teacher very seriously, trying to pretend that they had been like that all the time. Chris tried to hide his smile as he was leaving the books and papers on his desk, and shook his head. "Good morning, class."  
"Good morning, Chris."  
All the students called him now that way. At the beginning it had been hard to convince them that it was ok, that he would not be angry at that, and even that he was happy to be called Chris, because Mr. Halliwell made him feel really old. But the students still saw him as what he was, the head teacher, and felt uncomfortable.  
"Well, I see we were really awoken this morning... So I guess you're ready for the exam." All the eyes were lowered until they met their books and pretended to be reading. Chris chuckled silently.  
"Actually I am really sorry..." he continued, "it seems that my little girl didn't want you to do that exam, because last night she kept me really busy, so... I'm afraid that, as much as I regret it, we'll have to put it off until next week. I hope that you can understand and..."  
Suddenly all the students' expressions turned to joy and Chris could hear words here and there like 'Great! Awesome! Thanks God!'  
He smiled: "I see how sad you are for the news..." He cleared his voice: "Ok... But we have to keep on with the syllabus, so... please, open your books on page..."

°°°°°°°°°°

"... on page 56," Paige said. She was serious. The typical serious teacher of whom everyone was afraid. It was no real fear, just respect. They loved her out of class. But inside... That was hell.  
However, she was the first one there to give them advice, in case they needed it, and support, too. She was like a second mother for many of the students.  
"Well... Can anyone tell me how this witch on the drawing vanquished that demon with two faces?" she asked.  
Silence.  
"Can't you?" She sighed: "Ok guys... Imagine that you are walking in the street, and this handsome demon attacks you. What do you do?"  
Silence.  
"Perfect!" Paige left the chalk on the table with a strong thud. "So you don't do anything..." She walked in front of the worried faces that looked at her, and stared at them in concern: "This is not a joke, kids. Here, you can fail an exam. Out there, you can die. As simple as that. We are not teaching you how to play games with other kids, this is a question of survival, and I can not say what normal teachers say, that I don't mind if you don't learn, that it's your problem, because I do mind. I don't want to get up tomorrow and hear that one of you was killed by this demon because you did not study for my class!"  
All the students looked down at the same time, ashamed. "We... we had an exam with Mrs. Nicholus, and we didn't have time to study..." said a daredevil among those little angels.  
Paige had to sigh again: "That is exactly what I mean... This-is-not-a-game... I need you to take it seriously, kids."  
Some nodded, others muttered 'yes', and others kept quiet.  
Finally, after a while Paige took again the chalk: "Ok... let's forget about that today. We'll start a new lesson, but for tomorrow, I want the solution to that problem, and no excuses." And she started to write on the blackboard.

°°°°°°°°°°

Leo sighed: "Who cares about that?"  
"Who cares? WE DO, that's why we have that discussion," Jeremiah replied. Most of the other Elders nodded.  
"Look," Moisha said, "we know he's your son, but... nevertheless you must see the great danger! With THAT power he could destroy everything in this and in every other world."  
"He will not!", Leo snapped back.  
Silas agreed: "Yeah, he's a good man... he would never do something wrong."  
"He had killed a Valkyri..." Odin wanted to interrupt and say that there was no proof of that, but Jeremiah wouldn't let him. "...if it hadn't been more than one, he had cooperated with demons and he HAD killed an Elder," Jeremiah said.  
Leo's eyes glanced at the Elder furious. He rose and replied with clenched teeth: "All that he did to save his brother, my son... The only evil in this crowed was Gideon, the only one..." With this words he orbed away. He couldn't bear this gobbledygook any longer.  
Odin sighed when he saw his friend disappearing. And then he noticed with a disapproving look, that Silas stood up too.  
"I really can't understand you... Leo is right... Gideon had been a great threat to all of us. Me, I was one of Gideon's best friends... But if I had known that, I would have killed him on my own... God, if he had taken Wyatt... well I don't want to imagine that... " the Elder said wild gesturing. "And you? You sentence the only person who saved us from that! That's not what the Elders are meant to be..." Silas shook his head, then he followed Leo.  
Now all the others looked at Odin, as if they waited if he would join his new found friends and leave them too.  
"What?" the Elder said, feeling uncomfortable, "I'm neutral, even if I think Silas's words are true..."

°°°°°°°°°°

"I do love this, girl..." Piper said, while she stared at the cloudless blue sky.  
Bianca smiled. "Being away from the madding crowd?" she asked, jokingly.  
Piper laughed and shook her head: "No, no... Actually I'm quite worried that we left Cole and Phoebe alone with all the work, there..."  
"They told you to have a rest and come with me. Moreover, the kids were getting nervous," Bianca remarked. Piper nodded, pensive.  
They were strolling slowly along the bay. The day was sunny and quite warm, and it invited to be outside.  
"But they're just-married. I mean... well, you know what I mean."  
Bianca sighed: "Oh, yeah... But if they didn't sleep, it was because they did not want. You and I, we had other problems that caused our insomnia."  
Both girls chuckled. Bianca was pushing a small pram, as well as Piper, and Wyatt walked as a big boy, holding his mom's hand.  
"What if we sit for a while, somewhere?" Bianca asked. Piper nodded, looking for a good place to sit. Then she saw a bench next to a funny looking playground, and they both went to it, longing for a rest.

°°°°°°°°°°

"Ok... for tomorrow, I want you to read the third chapter of the book 'White magic is not a game'," Chris said, as he dusted his hands, full of the white dust from the chalk.  
The students stood up noisily and put their books in their backpacks to leave as soon as possible. Chris sighed while he watched them go out, and started to close his own books, when a girl approached him timidly.  
"Mr... Chris."  
The young Halliwell raised his head and smiled at her, with his great and honest smile, making the girl lower her eyes embarrassed. "Is everything ok, Tanya?" he asked.  
She nodded: "Yes... I just didn't understand well how that spell to clean a mess worked."  
Chris smiled: "Then, just pick up a cloth, and clean it yourself."  
The girl looked at him startled, and Chris laughed slightly, patting her shoulder. "Tanya, magic is dangerous. What I mean is... I want you to learn all this, but you shouldn't use it unless it was really necessary, ok?" She nodded. "Ok, then go and see me in my office hours, and I'll explain everything to you again."  
Tanya smiled grateful, then said goodbye, and left, at the same time as Steve was entering. Chris picked all the books up and waved at him: "Hey, Stevie! How was the class today?"  
His friend smiled. His eyes were more and more alive each day.  
"It was good. Why don't we take a coffee and talk? If you have time..."  
Chris nodded, and walked by his side along the long corridors, to some quiet space where they could take a drink.

°°°°°°°°°°

Silas materialised on top of the Golden Gate Bridge. He sighed when he saw Leo sat there staring at the skyline of the city.  
"Don't listen to them," he said and sat down next to his friend, "they don't know what they are talking about."  
"Yeah, I know," Leo sighed looking serious. "I just hope they will never say something like that when Chris is up there..." For a moment they kept silent. There was a feeling of sadness in the air, between them.  
"You know," Leo went on, "it had been really hard for Chris... all that... He had told me once that... that he had feared while saving his brother he could turn on his own. He feared he could end up like him..."  
Silas sighed: "But he didn't... we both know that he didn't... He's a good person Leo... He's nearly too good for this world."  
Leo nodded: "Yeah... that's why I'm afraid that he could find out how they really think about him... He always pretends to be so strong, but I know he isn't... I've seen it so often in his eyes, when he had saved Wyatt, when Bianca backed away from him, when Hope was born..."  
"I don't understand..." Silas said.  
Leo sighed: "He is strong, he's a fighter, but on the other hand..."  
Silas nodded: "And when even the Elders don't trust him..."  
"Yeah," Leo agreed with a sigh. Then he went on: "Especially lately he's often so edgy... At the moment it seems everything is a little too much for him. He has his own family to take care of, he has a baby who keeps him awake all night. He has his work at the school. And he has his talkings with Steve... And I guess that's the biggest problem of all of them. Until now he hid most of his memories about his past from everyone including himself. But those talks with Steve, he is taking that really seriously. He's using this opportunity to not only help Steve but also himself. But, even if it's good that he finally found a way to work things out, this also brings his past back to the surface and that's affecting him. I'm just not sure if this is the right moment, with all the Elders being so suspicious... On the other hand, which will be the right moment?"  
Silas nodded, keeping silent. He had also noticed that Chris wasn't as relaxed as usual...  
At that moment both Elders heard the voice of Odin in there minds: "We need you both, NOW! Andrew was attacked!"

°°°°°°°°°°

Cole was holding his wife in his arms, while she was sitting on his lap. "Oh... baby... I... love... you... so... much... always... and... forever..." he said, interrupting himself with giving her small little kisses.  
"I love you, too," she replied, while her fingers played with his short hair. Then she pressed her lips on his and kissed him passionately.  
Cole couldn't help it. His hands moved down her back, and then up again... this time under her top. When she let him breath again he whispered: "Those scientist are completely wrong when they say, that you lose the sexual interest in your partner, when you are married for a while... I think it's the complete opposite." Then he started kissing her cheek, her ear, her neck...  
Phoebe shivered by that soft touch of his lips. But still she smiled about his words: "I guess they mean when you're married for a loooooooooong time."  
Cole looked at her seriously: "Baby, believe me... There will never be someone who can light my fire that easily like you do!" Now Phoebe laughed. Then she playfully, opened the knobs of his shirt...  
Suddenly someone cleared his throat.  
The couple turned around startled. When they saw it was one of the craftsmen, they both blushed. Phoebe then rose and asked: "What can we do for you? Is anything wrong?"  
The man grinned: "The power is gone... didn't you notice that the noise stopped?"  
Phoebe chuckled: "Really?... No, I guess we had been toooo busy..." Then she took the man's hand and pulled him away. "The backups are at the kitchen..." But before she left, she turned to her husband and winked: "Don't run away..."

°°°°°°°°°°

Chris and Steve had found a calm place in one of the labs... actually in that one, where the kids learn to cook, one time every second week. Now it was completely empty, but still they found everything they needed to prepare a little second breakfast. Chris made the famous 'Halliwell-scrambled eggs with bacon and cheese' and Steve made some sandwiches.  
Then they sat down, facing each other and enjoyed their meal.  
Even if the talks they had were always serious and mostly really emotional, they both liked it... and they both knew that it was what they needed. In each other they had found someone to talk about things which no one else would understand. And that was good.  
"How is Nicki?" Chris asked. "I haven't seen her since the weekend."  
Steve grinned: "Which was three days ago... But, yeah... she's fine, I guess."  
"You guess?"  
"She's still worried about me, even if she tries not to show it."  
Chris nodded. And then, after he had swallowed down another piece of the sandwich, he asked: "And you? How are you?"  
Steve shrugged: "The last night was ok..."  
"That's good," the Elder-witch answered, "So... will you come back for more teaching soon? I mean... for teaching the magical classes again?"  
"Chris... I told you I can't... Really it's hard enough to take over the math-class again... You know, I just can't stand in front of those kids, telling them how cool it is to be a witch when I know that it is not... it is just dangerous..."  
"Steve... it's not... when you know how to use your powers it is not... Not more than crossing a street..."  
"Yeah, yeah... I know..." he sighed lowering his eyes.  
Chris sighed, too: "Even if you don't believe it... we really need you here... it's a fact that we don't have enough teachers... So everyone that is missing really leaves a big hole... And... I think it will help you. You need to overcome your fears..."  
"I know," Steve muttered. Then he looked up and Chris saw his eyes welling up with tears. "But I just can't..." he muttered.  
Chris stood up, went over to him and knelt down by his side: "Don't worry, I'm here, and I'll help you... and you'll see in a not so far away future, we will both go demon-hunting together..."  
Steve chuckled, but still he cried. So Chris hugged him, trying to comfort him. He had to help his friend, he just had to...

°°°°°°°°°°

"Oh, my God, can anyone tell me what happened?" Leo asked as he hurried to help the others to heal Andrew. Silas stayed behind, looking at the wounded Elder in horror.  
"We don't know! When we found him he was barely conscious. He mumbled that someone had kidnapped Lyta and Morgan. - Please come here and help now, Silas!" Odin answered, desperately.  
Silas finally reacted and went to them, but the sight was so painful... He had been an Elder for a long time. And he was not precisely a young man, either. He should be used to all type of injuries and wounds, but this... He was completely shocked. However he was able to join them without throwing up.  
At that moment the doors opened with a strong thud and Jeremiah entered with an angry look on his face. "I need an explanation, and I need it now!" he exclaimed.  
"Me too!" Leo replied, keeping his eyes on the slowly-healing body of an unconscious Andrew.  
"Leo Wyatt, do not dare to talk to me like that..."  
Odin turned to him furious: "Jeremiah, for God's sake. We are trying to heal Andrew so, please, co-operate: Stay and help, or leave, but SHUT UP!"  
Leo and the other Elders, startled, took a quick glance at Odin. They had never imagined him answering that way to the other Elders, but they had to keep their healing on. Jeremiah himself was taken aback, and he did as he had been said, but stayed behind, just staring.  
The doors had closed right after he had entered, leaving outside all the other Elders that were still there after the meeting, murmuring and babbling about what had just happened, but the five Elders inside were totally focused on the victim. His wounds were healing, little by little, and with this, Silas started to feel better too.  
Finally, Andrew opened his eyes, very slowly, and slightly smiled at Leo when he saw his blue eyes fixed on him, full of worry.  
"Hey... I thought I would not make it..." he mumbled. Leo nodded, trying to smile back, while Odin and Yuri helped him in a sitting position.  
"Now that is everything fine again, can anyone explain what has happened here?" Jeremiah asked again, approaching Andrew, and taking his hand with care.  
Yuri shook his head as Silas kept staring at Andrew. "This Elder has been about to die," Leo remarked.  
Andrew swallowed. "I... I was too late. Lyta and Morgan... They were kidnapped... I cou... I could not do anything," he muttered.  
Odin pressed his shoulder comfortingly: "We know, my friend. You just told us before passing out. But do you..."  
"How did it happen?" Jeremiah interrupted, as Silas's eyes kept fixed on the void, perhaps.  
Leo looked at him angrily: "Don't press him, Jeremiah, he has been about to die!"  
"That is what worried me!" the Elder answered back, in a cold tone. "An Elder can not die unless he's shot by a darklighter arrow, and he was really badly injured, so I demand to know what has happened."  
"I... I don't know..." Andrew answered, sobbing a little. "I don't... I didn't have time to see anything, I..."  
"It's ok," Odin intervened, inviting him to stop talking, "relax, and we'll talk in a moment."  
Then he turned to Silas: "Meanwhile, we should try to sense the lost Elders." Silas nodded, same as Yuri, before they both orbed away.  
But Leo had not taken his eyes from Jeremiah, who was breathing heavily because of the fury. "Jeremiah... this man wasn't hurt by a darklighter arrow," he said.  
"What do you mean?" the other Elder asked, frustrated. "That is the only way of killing one of us, since the Titans are vanquished..."  
"There is another way," Leo stood up approaching Jeremiah, and leaving Andrew under Odin's care, who listened attentively, a bit in horror. "Another Elder can kill any of us. With our own powers, or with our own magic." Leo shivered at his own words, remembering how Gideon had tried to kill Wyatt, and how his own magic had turned against him, when Chris stabbed him.  
"What are you insinuating?" Jeremiah asked, feeling the wroth grow in him, "that one of us tried to murder him? And kidnapped two of us? That is defamation!!! I can't allow..."  
"You can and you have to admit it. We are not perfect, it happened once," Leo cut him off, without realising that his own words were turning on him.  
Jeremiah narrowed his eyes. "Yes. Actually YOUR son did it. And even so we accepted him among us... as a reward," he answered sarcastically.  
Leo swallowed, feeling how his face was redder and redder. "My-son-did-what-he-had-to," he spoke very slowly and very lowly, almost menacingly. "Gideon was a murderer, and..."  
"Chris did what he thought was the best. Maybe the means was not good, but that is part of the past. What surprises me now is..." Odin was talking very calmly, while comforting Andrew and staring at Jeremiah's eyes. "What surprises me now is that the Elders who have been attacked have been defending Chris before."  
"Lyta did..." Andrew muttered, very weakly. "Actually she was trying to convince Morgan."  
"And?" Jeremiah asked, too fast.  
"AND... She was about to get her on Christopher's side," Odin remarked, looking at him fiercely.  
Jeremiah went paler: "Are you trying to say that one of us, another Elder, has done this?" He shook his head. "No way. I can't allow this talk here. You are really wrong, this must have another explanation..."  
Andrew lowered his eyes. He wished he had seen something else, but he hadn't. He had just left the meeting after it was done, with Lyta and Morgan, and then it all happened so fast... But it had happened up there... And darklighters could not enter there.

_

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(Chapter 1 written by Chrissy.W.x and Belén)_


	2. Chapter 2

**A Charmed Story - Part Nine:  
I, Myself And The Elders  
Chapter 2**

"Thanks..." Steve dried his eyes and tried to smile. "I am better, don't worry. It is just that sometimes... I can't help it." Chris was still kneeling by his side, to make sure he was ok. He nodded at his words. Then Steve looked him in the eyes: "Thanks really... It's good to have someone like you, to talk."  
The Elder-witch smiled and patted his shoulder as he stood up to sit on a chair by his side. "I know..."  
"Can I ask you something?" Steve said, staring at him sadly.  
Chris took a couple of second before nodding: "Yeah... of course."  
"Did you... Did you have someone to talk about your... you know, about your past?" he asked, regretting having done so right after starting.  
Chris swallowed and sighed: "I had... I had many people... Cole, grandpa... But everyone I loved ended up dying. I had Bianca too. And I talked with her." He smiled sadly: "But I kept too many things for me... Too many. I should have talked with her more often, to help me feel better, and to help her understand..."  
Steve frowned: "Why didn't you? I mean, you're constantly telling me to do so, but now you admit you kept the burden for yourself..."  
Chris sighed: "That was my mistake. I was afraid that Wyatt would end up killing all the people that meant something to me. Just to hurt me... So I tried to keep them safe, as much as I could."  
Steve stared at him amazed. He was so unique in the world. "You... you can..." he was not able to say it... It'd be so hard! But he had to... "You can talk to me about it, now. You can tell me everything, if that helps," he finally let it out.  
Chris smiled again, and patted his shoulder: "I'm already doing it, Stevie... I am."  
At that moment Chris felt a voice in his head. It was his father. Something was wrong up there.

°°°°°°°°°°

"Hey, can I come in?" Paige asked. She stood in the doorway to Kyle's first own office and showed her friend a box with fast food and coffee. It had been three weeks now, that he worked at the same department as Darryl again.  
Actually Darryl had asked his superior if he could put Kyle under his supervision, he had told him, that he believed Kyle has a lot of potential... Of course Darryl wanted to make sure that the secret of the sisters is safe. Kyle would keep it anyway, but this way - together - it was just easier. And Kyle himself was very proud of having his own office now, even if it was a small one. But he could work on real cases, and that was much better than making coffee.  
He smiled when he saw the witch-whitelighter and nodded. "Good to see you," he said.  
Paige grinned, and closed the door behind her. "I hope you like a chicken-cheese burger," she said, while putting the lunch on his desk.  
"That's great," he said. Then they sat down and eat.  
The relation between those two was kind of weird. Paige felt a lot for that man, she liked him really much. And Kyle? He had a complete crush on her. But still they both kept a slight distance. Maybe it was because of the fact that she was a witch... But the more important reason was, that they both acted kind of shy and didn't really know how to express their feelings.  
Not that they didn't spend time together, actually they spend a lot of time together. They went to cinema, to the park, the bay... They had a lot of fun together, they met like every second day. But still there was nothing more than some shy looks and some timid contacts of their hands. It was more like the first love on high school, or maybe elementary school, than the relation of two adults. But maybe that little fact was what made their relation so special.  
"So anything new from... from your work?" he asked.  
Paige grinned: "No... Since our last meeting with that big guy, he kept calm as it seems."  
"That's good," the officer said, "I mean... I... I don't want you to get hurt."  
"Oh that's so sweet, Kyle," she replied with a smile and touched his hand, making him blush.  
Then he sighed: "No, I really mean it, Paige... I'm afraid that you could get hurt."  
"Kyle," Paige said closing her eyes and sighed. Then she looked at him again: "That's what I do, that what people like me do... We're meant to help the innocents, even if it's dangerous. You're doing the same in a way, don't you?" He nodded. "And I'm also afraid that you could get hurt... But I know I can't change it, I have to live with that... and so have you." He nodded again. Paige smiled: "So what about this evening... Are you still sure that you're ready to visit me?"  
Kyle grinned: "Well, you talked so exited and adoringly about you're sister's self-made scrimps-soup that I can't wait to taste it." Paige laughed heartily and Kyle joined her.  
But then the witch-whitelighter turned serious and pulled a little vial out of her pocket.  
"What is that?" Kyle asked.  
"A potion," Paige answered, "and I want you to drink it."  
"WHAT???" he jumped up while exclaiming that.  
"Please, calm down... let me explain..." Kyle looked at her, unsure and doubtful for a moment. Then he let himself fall back on his chair.  
Paige smiled: "Look, this potion will not hurt you... it will protect you..."  
"From what? Demons?" he asked looking kind of scared at the vial on the table.  
"No... from my sister," Paige answered shyly. And when she saw his confused look she added: "That's a blocking potion. My sister Phoebe is an empath. When you visit us without drinking this, she will read your emotions like an open book. And I thought that you maybe don't want that."  
Kyle looked at her frowning, still confused: "You mean...?"  
Paige nodded: "You don't have to be afraid, I drank it too, and my other sister... and Chris, Bianca and Cole of course... oh and Darryl and Sheila also... Otherwise my sister can be kind of annoying, with her 'Oh I feel soooooooo much looooooveeeeee in the ai-air'... Believe me, she did that one time to me, and that was really..."  
"... annoying?" he asked with a slight smile.  
Paige smiled: "Yes..."  
Kyle nodded. Then he sighed, took the vial and looked at it for a little while. He wasn't so sure about all this, but... he trusted Paige. Finally he unlocked the little bottle and swallowed down the red liquid. He shivered when it was done: "That tastes kind of disgusting."  
Paige grinned: "I know... but which medicine tastes sweet?"

°°°°°°°°°°

Chris appeared outside the conference room. He didn't like it to leave Steve like that, but he knew he had to. His father had sounded very worried.  
He looked around. There were some others Elders, and all were facing him kind of scared, kind of doubtful, kind of distrustful. He frowned, then he entered the large room and closed the door behind him.  
"What happened?" he asked, when he noticed the worried looks of his father and friends.  
Leo sighed: "Andrew had been attacked by someone... up here..."  
"WHAT?" Chris exclaimed.  
"He was seriously wounded but we could save him," Odin said.  
Chris shook his head: "That's impossible... only darklighters could kill Elders... and, maybe my brother," he said without thinking.  
Jeremiah grinned with an evil satisfaction, even if the situation was serious. He always knew that Leo's kids were a great danger.  
Leo sighed by Chris words and then smiled weakly: "Thanks God that you stopped that..."  
His son, realising what he just had said, added: "Of course... This Wyatt and his evil powers are gone forever."  
Odin nodded. "Yeah, and the new one is too young to be the one who attacked Andrew anyway," he said looking at Jeremiah.  
"Actually I don't care about who did it... I care about Lyta and Morgan..." Andrew said still a little weak, but urgent.  
Chris looked confused at his father: "Why, what happened to them."  
Leo sighed: "They were kidnapped."  
"WHAT????" Chris couldn't believe it. But then it hit him... Wyatt's words... "Rhashirk," he muttered.

°°°°°°°°°°

Piper and Bianca had been sitting on the bench for a while, chatting lively while their small babies were sleeping and Wyatt played in the playground in front of both women.  
When the babies were born, it had been really weird for all of them to see father and daughter being almost the same age, crying all the time; but now, after the last visit from the future, they all had ended up understanding how everything worked. Christopher had repeated once and again that he "wasn't Chris", and finally they had realised that at any moment he hadn't meant that he didn't love his older self, but rather, he meant just that: They were different people. Once they got to see it, everything was easier.  
Bianca noticed Piper's silence for a while. "What are you thinking about?" she asked, concerned.  
Piper startled, and turned to her: "Oh, I..." She shook her head. "I was just thinking about him..." and she pointed at little Chris in the pram. "Christopher..."  
Bianca nodded, and kept listening to her. "Since he came I've been a little bit confused, Bianca... I... I thought I would see Chris grow up and become the man he is right now, somehow. It was not the natural process, because I saw him first as a grown-up, but when he was born, I really thought I would be able to live his childhood and all his life... Not like in his time."  
Bianca nodded again, attentively, while she moved Hope's pram. Piper then looked her in the eyes. "That won't be possible. Never."  
Bianca frowned, feeling alarmed: "Why? Why do you say so, Piper?"  
Her mother-in-law had to smile, noticing the confusion: "No, I'm not being drastic or tragic, or anything. I just mean that the baby I'm gonna see grow is Christopher. Not Chris."  
"Oh... it's that." Bianca didn't know what to say.  
Piper nodded, turning to look at the sleeping baby, as Hope started to moan a little bit.  
"Listen, Piper... They will be the same. You know that... They will live things in a similar way, probably part of their childhood will be almost the same. The biggest difference will be when we come to that time when you hadn't been there anymore." She felt bad right after saying that, but there was no return.  
Piper, however, sighed and nodded: "I know... But still, this is not Chris. He sacrificed so much... I had never realised that, until now. He had his own terrible life and for much he's living well now, his past is and will be there always. And he never talks about it just not to sadden us."  
Bianca smiled weakly: "He did that to get a better future... It was not a sacrifice."  
"That is the point," Piper cut her off. "It is, believe me. He created a great future for all of us; all of us, except for himself. I always thought he wanted to change his own life because it was a hell, but now, after Christopher's visit, I've seen the whole truth: He was so generous that he came to give US that future. US and little Christopher. But he was supposed to go back to his own timeline... And go on living in that hell, or just disappear. It was a true gift that he got stuck here, that you two did."  
Bianca was pensive for a while. Then she turned to look at Hope, who was calming down. "I don't think that Chris ever thought about all that. We used to talk about it, about how he could save his brother and all... And we agreed on this trip to the past, but we were completely inexpert. He did not know the consequences. We had been sure that he always could come back. We never thought, that this baby could be a completely different person than him." She swallowed. "I am not saying that he was selfish. He just had... hope. And he was desperate. We both were. I guess we thought we could not lose anything, so why not trying it?"  
Piper smiled: "Still... That was generous, Bianca. You just wanted to save the future, and you didn't know what would happen to you..."  
The girl smiled, not knowing what to say. "I guess you are right..." she sighed.  
At that moment, both girls turned their eyes to Wyatt, who was climbing one of the metal bridges in the playground, and smiled. Chris and Bianca had been given a true and blessed gift. A second opportunity to live this second life in this second timeline. But... Who had conceded that precious present to them? They had never questioned it; they had simply thought that the rules of time had made it, that it was a mistake, but a welcomed one, since not even the Elders knew how that had happened. And they'd never question it...

°°°°°°°°°°

"What?" Odin asked confused and unsure if he had got it right.  
"Rhashirk," Chris replied loudly.  
Leo was also kind of confused: "Why do you think it's him? I mean..."  
"Dad, look... someone came up here, someone nearly killed an Elder... I don't know how he managed to come here, but after the last attack of him I think there are only less things he can't do... And who else could have done it?"  
"That's nonsense," Jeremiah replied, "it's impossible that a demon could enter here..."  
Chris rolled his eyes: "There is nothing impossible in this world."  
"Yeah, right... that's why you're up here with us, even if you had killed one of us..." Jeremiah snapped back, angry that Chris was so pertly.  
The Elder-witch looked at him, his eyes empty, while Odin called Jeremiah angry, angry as no one had ever seen him before. Leo meanwhile looked into his son's green eyes, and he could see his anger rose behind them.  
Chris was lost in his mind for a moment, trying to understand what was going on... But he couldn't think clearly. The words of that Elder had hid and they hurt like hell... It felt like the world was crashing down around him. "I never asked for being an Elder!" he then suddenly screamed at Jeremiah who looked scared at the young man. Odin and Leo tried to calm him down, but it was useless. "I never wanted to be one of you... All I ever wanted was saving my brother... I never wanted to be stuck here, I never wanted to be a member of that freak-show, I never wanted all this... And YOU know that! And when I did for what I came, when I had saved my brother I prayed to God that you would take these powers back, BECAUSE I NEVER WANTED THEM!" With this Chris orbed away. Leo followed him, after glancing angry at Jeremiah.  
Odin shook his head: "Are you happy now?"  
Jeremiah, who was still shocked by Chris's outburst, didn't know what to say. Andrew sighed, then he looked at Odin who nodded. Seconds later both left the room, leaving the confused Jeremiah alone.

°°°°°°°°°°

When Leo materialised only seconds after Chris, his son's small apartment at the school was already a complete mess. He was paralysed when he saw his son like that with his powers going crazy, but then he had to duck to avoid being hit by a lamp which Chris telekinetically threw through the room.  
When Leo looked up and his son turned his face to him, he saw that he was crying. So his father took a deep breath and orbed in front of him, grabbing his hands to stop him from destroying the whole room.  
"Chris," he said with a calm voice, still full of concern. His soon looked at him, looked him in the eyes. But these weren't the eyes of a young man... those were the eyes of a kid.  
Leo's heart skipped a beat, when he saw the pain in his son's eyes. He sighed and pulled him into a hug. "I'm so sorry," he whispered.  
"How could he say that?" Chris sobbed into his fathers shoulder. It just had been too much, he had had such a bad night... and that long morning at the school, and... And... It was just too much.  
"I don't know, buddy..." Leo said, while caressing his back.  
Chris freed himself a little, to look his father in the eyes again: "Really dad, I never wanted to be an Elder... maybe it's better you take these powers back..."  
"Shhhh..." Leo caressed his hair. Then his hands grabbed his face to underline his point, to make sure that Chris wouldn't break the eye-contact until he was done. "I know son, I know what you're thinking... but you have those powers, and you did a lot of good things with them... And we are all very proud of you, son... I AM proud of you... So stop talking such a bullshit... ok?"  
Chris grinned weakly at his father. Of course his father's words were helping, but... At that moment Jeremiah's words were just hurting too much.

°°°°°°°°°°

"By the way," Bianca started again, "I think I never said thanks to you, so... Thank you."  
Piper frowned: "For what?"  
"Well... when we met the first time, I was stripping Chris's powers, putting a spell on you and taking him to the future... But still, when we met the second time, you've welcomed me with open arms."  
Piper smiled at her daughter in law. Then she explained: "I think I would have blown you up again, if we hadn't had a short look into Chris memories just a few hours before."  
"His memories?" He had never talked about that..."  
"Yeah, we thought we could maybe find out who Wyatt turned... we thought he might know something subconscious. Sadly we hadn't been very successful. But there were a lot of memories including you, and from that I know how much you love him, and how much he loves you."  
Bianca blushed a little. She wanted to say something but at that moment they heard a cry.  
It was Wyatt who had fallen down from the marry-go-round.  
"Oh my God!" Piper exclaimed and ran over to him. She picked him up carefully, which made him cry even harder. "Shhhh... Wyatt... everything will be alright," she said trying to calm him down, but he kept crying...  
"Outch... arm... outch..." he sobbed. Piper, who had sat down again next to Bianca, with his son on his lab, looked really worried. Wyatt was holding his arm stiffened.  
"Maybe we should bring him to a doctor?" Bianca suggested.  
"Yeah," Piper muttered.  
But at that moment someone went next to them. "Hey sweetie... mom," Chris said and then knelt down in front of his brother.  
"Honey, what are you doing here?" his wife asked. Then she noticed his red eyes: "What's wrong?"  
Chris hesitated a moment, he didn't want to make her worry. But still he could say the other half of the truth, couldn't he? Technically it wasn't a lie. "Well... Wyatt found a way to brake the blocking. He cried so desperately, that I had to come. You know it felt like I had broken my arm on my own."  
"Really?" Piper looked really worried now. Then she turned to the blonde boy: "Is your arm broken, my little baby?"  
"I guess it is," Chris said, "but... if you let me."  
Piper hesitated, but Wyatt himself moved closer to him showing him his hurting arm, while he had stopped crying and was only a little sobbing now.  
"It's ok little brother," Chris said comfortingly. Then he looked around and when he saw that there was nobody watching them, he healed his brother's arm with the golden glow.  
Wyatt giggled, and then, when it was done, he jumped to Chris's arms and hugged him. "Thanks Chris," he said with his childish voice.  
Piper felt her eyes welling up with tears. That was so cute...  
Chris put the boy back to the ground still smiling at him. Wyatt looked up and said: "Can I now talk always to you...????"  
The Elder-witch sighed: "If you like..." His little brother smiled happily and then went back to play...  
"Wow... good work big brother," Bianca said.  
Chris sighed and sat down next to her taking Hope to his arms. She was sleeping but still he had the impression that there was a smile on her face. She was so amazing. He was so proud of her and he loved her so much...  
Bianca observed him. She already knew that kind of look. Chris loved his daughter so much, that he always forgot anything around him, when she was there.  
"Thanks for helping him..." Leo said. He stood behind them and smiled proudly at his son when they all turned around. Then he turned serious again and added addressing Chris: "I think we should go back... you know..."  
Chris nodded and put Hope back into the pram. Then he gave Bianca a loving kiss, while Leo kissed Piper. "I'll see you later," Chris said to his wife before he gave his mother a kiss on the cheek. Then he waved to his brother, who was playing in the sandbox again.  
Leo patted his son's shoulder. Then the two of them left.  
Bianca sighed, while following them with her eyes: "Why do I have the feeling that something is bothering him?"  
Piper smiled at her understandingly: "Don't worry too much. Maybe it's just some trouble with the Elders again." Bianca nodded with another sigh.

°°°°°°°°°°

"So... Do you feel better?" Leo asked on their way.  
Chris smiled: "Yeah... I think at least some of my powers are useful and... Jeremiah is an idiot, isn't he?"  
Leo laughed. "Yeah... sometimes he is..."  
His son nodded, then he went on: "You know... As I heard Wyatt in my head it was... well... I don't know... it was amazing... I think maybe it was a mistake to block him out..."  
Leo sighed: "I don't think so... he's very young; he loves you, but I guess when you're teaching a class or hunting for a demon, that connection still could disturb you..."  
Chris shook his head: "No... I won't block him again..."  
"Ok, but please focus on our current problem now... we have to find Morgan and Lyta."  
"Yeah, we have to find a way to find Rhashirk, then we'll find them, too."  
A moment later they reached a backyard from where they orbed back to the school.

°°°°°°°°°°

The telephone was ringing... Again. For the third time that day. But Tom ignored it once again. He needed concentration; he had something, and just couldn't stop and talk. He shook his head. The tones of the phone really annoyed him, but hopefully they would stop very soon... and the answering machine would start working! He turned irritated to the red object on the table that was making those bothersome noises, and heard the voice of the person he most loved.  
"Tom... It's me... Veronica. I have been phoning the whole day. Man, I know you're there, and I want you to move your lazy butt and pick up the phone NOW! You cannot go on like that, Tom. We are a couple, we need to be together. This can't go on that way. You're obsessed..." Pause. Tom kept his breath.  
"Tom, are you listening to me?"  
Pause. Tom exhaled all the air again.  
"TOM!! Shit, come and pick up the phone! It's gonna stop working, but I'll phone again and again because we need to talk. Want it or not!!!"  
Tom swallowed. He had no choice... The young man sighed, then he went to the receiver, but paused for a moment, with his hand over the receiver.  
"TOM!! DAMN IT!!"  
Tom startled and picked the receiver, with his heart beating.  
"The hell with y..."  
"Veronica?"  
"Tom?" her voice sounded shocked. There was a silence again.  
"Sweetie... I am sorry, I told you I had to work on something... You knew that!"  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah... Tom, I am not going to be waiting for you all the time!" her voice was really angry.  
Tom sighed: "I told you that it was only today... TODAY! You could have found someone else to go and buy that bag, girl!"  
Silence.  
"So that is what you think? That I have friends for that? For when you have other more interesting things to do than to be with me? Is that what you think?"  
Tom shook his head: "Honey, that is not the point. You know that I do love going shopping with you. But this is for Steve's..."  
"Steve has Nicki."  
"But Nicki doesn't have what I got."  
Silence.  
"Veronica?"  
"Tom, you're obsessed. This is at an impasse... You're not gonna find the demon that did that to him, and he's trying to forget. You are not helping him this way. What we need to do is going out with him and talk about weather, and not demons."  
"Veronica, I saw what he saw. I know what he's been through. And I know that he can't live with that, that he can't forget that easily. We need to do something. And I think I have discovered something too. Actually I'd love to share it with you, but since it seems you're more interested in that bag..."  
Silence.  
"Ok..." Veronica sighed at the other side of the receiver. "I'll come over to you. But when we're done with your stuff, we'll come back to mine, promise?"  
Tom grinned, even if she could not see him. "Promise."

°°°°°°°°°°

Half an hour later Veronica was knocking on his door. "So what is that important thing you have found out about the person who attacked and tortured Steve?"  
Tom made her enter and asked her to sit down on the sofa. The lounge was a mess of papers and books and machines; Veronica looked around, somehow worried, but pretended to be normal.  
"The voice," Tom answered, plainly.  
"The voice?"  
Tom nodded, seeing her frown. "That Rhashirk's voice. The demon we fought some weeks ago, remember?? The one who wanted to kill Chris. That is how this all started... He always wanted to reach him, and he wanted to get that information out of Steve, even use him to kill the Halliwells."  
"Wait, wait, wait... What does that have to do with the voice, and anyway... There are loads of demons after them. Why should be Rhashirk the one that attacked them that time?"  
Tom's eyes had a strange bright as he looked at Veronica, moving his hands nervously: "I heard his voice in Steve's mind. And I heard his voice when we were in the middle of the attack. Veronica shook her head: "Tom, how can you be so sure it is the same voice? It is very easy to mistake something like that... You are just obsessed."  
"No. No, no, no... It is the same voice. Rhashirk is the demon who did all this. When we were looking for him, we found Cristóbal. We were on the right track! I have been researching... Actually I have been working on a spell to get the voices out of the mind. It is like reproducing them on a cassette. It was hard, but..." Veronica looked around at the books spread all over the place, with her mouth open. "I got it. And the voice is the same, Veronica."  
"Ok, and?? Even if the voice is the same, how are you supposed to find him?" She shook her head: "Your friend needs you, Tom... YOU. Not your obsession with his problem."  
Tom clenched his fists, trying to control his anger: "I made a promise, Veronica. I told him that I would solve this, ok? And I will keep to it!"  
She sighed: "Whatever..." She stood up and headed the door, to leave, as Tom kept sitting, staring at her quietly.  
"I found his lair, Veronica."  
"What?" she turned suddenly, surprised.  
"I found it. It's not in the Underworld. It's not even on earth. He is the Lord of Darkness, he rules in another dimension where it's always dark and damp. He was exiled there thousands of years ago by the old Source of all Evil, since they were actually opponents. It seems he found a hole, and came to our dimension to get his throne back in the Underworld... and on the whole earth."  
Veronica had gone paler: "But wh... why does he want to kill Chris?"  
Tom shook his head: "Cristóbal wanted to kill Chris. He wants to kill every witch on earth, to establish his reign... And he starts with the most powerful family, of course. The Halliwells." His voice sounded really grave, and Veronica wasn't sure anymore whether her boy friend was going crazy or not.  
"How... How did you get to know that? Where is that other dimension?"  
Tom smiled: "Reading... And going to the place where Rhashirk shimmered the first time, when he attacked the sisters, in the Golden Gate park. That was the only place where he can shimmer from his dimension. That is where the hole is... A place surrounded by trees and animals..."  
Veronica was mute for a second. She was completely wordless. Too much information for such a short time. "Have you... Have you been there?" she asked, feeling that she would faint.  
Tom's eyes were brightening even more. "I'm gonna go and kill him. I owe that to Steve, he needs to have good dreams once and for all. And me too."

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

**A Charmed Story - Part Nine:  
I, Myself And The Elders  
Chapter 3**

"You really scared me, you know that?" Leo said when they orbed back to Chris's apartment.  
"Why? Because I just freaked out a little?" his son said grinning sadly.  
The Elder made a gesture to Chris to look at his own room, which was a complete mess and explained: "Therefore!"  
The Elder-witch sighed: "Guess I freaked out a little too much..."  
Leo looked at him still worried, while his son started to clean the mess. "Are you sure, that you're alright?" he asked with a caring voice.  
Chris turned to him and Leo could see that he was worried on his own. "No, I'm not," he admitted, "I think... I never really got over all that... and I guess I never will..."  
"Son..."  
"No dad..." he interrupted him, "maybe he's right... maybe I'm a kind of time-bomb... maybe..."  
"You're not," Leo said and went over to hug his son. "You got angry because Jeremiah sentenced you without seeing the whole story. He judged you without thinking why you had to do this... And he forgot what he gained from that. Maybe you lost it a little bit here, but taking everything else into account, it's understandable." He sighed before he went on: "Jeremiah is just a poor man who has no idea how lucky he is that you saved his butt..."  
Chris's eyes turned watery again. "And the Valkyris?" he asked. He had never talked about that, nor had Leo. They had just skipped all that. But even if all that had happened more than two years ago, Chris still felt guilty... especially now, when he was so rudely forced to remember all that.  
Leo swallowed. Actually, even if he always guessed it, he had never been sure if he had done it... until now... But that didn't change anything for him. "Don't worry buddy... If there would have been any consequences resulting from that, you would have already experienced them," Leo said, trying to comfort him. It felt kind of good that his son talked to him about that, that he trusted him so much. Nevertheless it hurt him, that Chris was still silently suffering.  
Chris shook his head: "Yeah, that's the point... All this seems to be so much wrong sometimes... theoretically I should be three month by now... I know I shall take it as a gift, and be sure dad, I really do... I love every single second of this life. I enjoy every moment... But the more happier I am here with you and mom and Bianca and Hope, the more I'm wondering... I mean... Who is responsible for that? Who made that gift for me and Bianca? And for which reason...????"  
Leo sighed: "I don't know, son... I don't know."

°°°°°°°°°°

Phoebe and Cole where lying side by side on the sofa wrapped into each others arms and he had also put a leg around his wife. None of them cared about all the noises of hammers and drillers. They were just somewhere in their own world. Lovingly he nibbled on Phoebes ear, making her chuckle, when the youngest Charmed One orbed in.  
"Hey, what are you..." Paige hesitated a moment, "... doing?"  
"Paige!" Phoebe exclaimed while Cole let his head sank onto his wife's shoulder chuckling.  
"Sorry," the red haired said blushing. "Where is Piper?"  
"Out, with Bianca and the kids," Cole said as he awkwardly rose.  
Paige looked at him confused: "And the dinner?" Could she have forgotten about that? But no... not Piper.  
"...is almost ready," Phoebe said. "You know Piper, she has prepared everything before she left."  
Cole chuckled: "I go and get myself something to drink. You want something, too?" Paige shook her head. Cole nodded and before he left he kissed his wife again.  
Phoebe followed him with her eyes, but then she turned to her sister again and asked: "So... Is Kyle still willing to come this evening?"  
Paige nodded and sat down next to her sister. "I hope there will be no demons attacking us this evening..." she said with a sigh. "I don't want to scare him again."  
Don't worry about that, Paige... and even if... I mean... Darryl and Sheila will also be there..." Her sister nodded.  
A moment they kept silent, but then Phoebe started again: "So how are you doing? You and Kyle I mean?"  
Paige looked at her feeling a little uncomfortable. "Fine," she said with a weird grin.  
"Fine?"  
"Yeah... We really have a lot of fun together..." the youngest of the charmed ones said, hoping to end this conversation with that.  
But Phoebe just knew her to well to simply drop the topic. The empath frowned, then she rose her eyebrows: "No... no-no-no-no-no... Don't tell my there is nothing more than holding hands between you two." Paige shrugged blushing, somehow feeling like being caught while doing something wrong.. Her sister looked at her with wide opened eyes: "You never kissed till now?" Paige shook her head, and Phoebe added: "Why?"  
"I don't know, ok?" the witch-whitelighter sounded a little angry, which she actually wasn't. "We really have a lot of fun together, but until now he never tried to kiss me... And I... I mean... I don't know... I don't want to put him under pressure or something..." She sighed. "I mean, I really like him... But it's hard enough for him to deal with me as a witch, isn't it...?"  
"I don't know," Phoebe said, "you should ask him that."  
"I know... But I'm just afraid to lose him..."

°°°°°°°°°°

Silas had been trying to sense the lost Elders for quite a while without any success when he heard a voice at his back: "Any news?"  
He was startled at first, but then he sighed without turning around to face Odin. "Nothing. I can't sense them."  
Andrew went to him and sat on a chair, staring at him worried: "Does that mean that they are...?"  
Odin shook his head: "I hope not... I guess there must be another explanation. Keep on trying, Silas. We'll go and check the oracle."  
Silas nodded. "What about the other Elders and whitelighters?" he asked then.  
Andrew looked at Odin and sighed: "I guess we better try to avoid a panic and keep our knowledge for ourselves... at least for now."  
Odin and Silas agreed. Then the latter one watched his friend orb away to the oracle that they used all the time to know as much as they knew. That way they could know everything... When the time of someone had come, which demons were attacking, who must be chosen as whitelighter, etc.  
But as every oracle, it could be ambiguous, or even fail sometimes. It always failed to give any clue about Chris, why he was there and if it was good or not at all.  
Silas shook his head again, sighing resigned, and closed his eyes to try, but he could not sense them at all.

°°°°°°°°°°

Jeremiah opened the door with a strong slam. He was furious as he had never been before. How had that half-bread dared talking to him that way?? Of course, they needed to find those Elders, but afterwards, the first thing to do was to strip Chris from his powers of an Elder. As it seemed, he wished that as much as they did, so he would not complain. Thus he had talked to the other Elders right before heading to the oracle, where he found surprised that Odin and Andrew were already there.  
The two Elders turned to him, startled, and Odin frowned: "I think that we should calm down a little bit. We are Elders, we should not go around making all this... noise..."  
Jeremiah bit his lip and went toward them: "Did you find them?" Andrew shook his head, silently. "And you don't remember anything that can help...?" Andrew shook his head again.  
"The oracle seems to be quite confused. He can not sense them at all, but it seems they are not dead. I mean... That is something it would show, wherever they are," Odin explained.  
Jeremiah nodded. That was true. The oracle always knew if an Elder was dead or not. But this time, even if it said that they were fine, it couldn't find them.  
"This is mysterious... We should try asking other questions."  
At that moment two more people orbed back there... The three faces turned to see Leo and a very downcast Chris. Odin sighed. He felt so much sorry for his young friend, and so did Andrew.  
"Anything new?" Leo asked. The others shook their heads.  
That moment the door was opened again, and Silas entered. "Nothing," he said to Odin, "I can't sense them did you found something?" Odin shook his head again.  
Chris glanced angry at Jeremiah. He wished he could push that jerk into one of Wyatt's, his Wyatt's torture-cells. Then he turned to the oracle and stepped a little forward. He never really liked to be there in that room. That glowing, waving ball made him feel uncomfortable. But he also knew by now how useful it could be. "What do you know about a demon named Rhashirk?" he asked.  
The oracle started to shiver... The whole room was shivering like there had been a light earthquake. But else the oracle kept silent.  
The other Elders looked at each other frowning, while Chris took another step. "Oracle?" he asked again a little hesitating. But nothing happened.  
The Elder-witch turned to Odin: "What is that, why is it not answering?" Chris hadn't been there with the oracle much often; that it didn't answer was knew to him.  
His friend sighed: "Sometimes even the oracle don't know the answer, Chris... and..."  
"... and that quake-thing is exactly what happened when we ask it about you," Jeremiah remarked with a look of distrust.  
Chris narrowed his eyes angrily, but then decided to ignore him. The Elders were in danger, and that was much more important then their little fight.  
"Ok," he said then, "what we need now are more information... So..." He hesitated a moment. But when he saw his friends looking at him expectantly he went on: "So I would say me and dad go and visit a special friend of us, who could maybe help with some news. Odin, you could go to the manor and ask the sisters for help. You could go through the books at the school-library... and don't forget the book of shadows, maybe there is an useful hint from my brother in there..." Odin nodded and orbed away. Chris turned to Silas: "You could visit Mike and Angy... She was imprisoned by Cris and Rhashirk, so maybe she can tell you something..."  
"And does our new commander has any orders for me?" Jeremiah asked annoyed with an icy voice.  
"You could go and look through the Elder-library," Chris answered without reacting to his unkind voice.  
Jeremiah narrowed his eyes, but before he could add something, Andrew patted his shoulder. "He's right," he said, "come on, we could do that together." With this, both Elders left by orbing.  
Silas turned to Chris: "I don't know, maybe it's better when you talk to Angela..."  
The Elder-witch sighed: "Yeah, but I need to go with dad... there is no one else who could do that..."  
"Why? Where do you want to go with me?" Leo asked.  
"Underworld... thought about meeting Julian," Chris explained, moving his hand through his hair nervously.  
Leo frowned then said: "Alright... I will not ask how you found out how to find him."  
"Well... I think I could do that, too," Silas said, sounding not so sure as he had wanted to. "And believe me... There is NO ONE else who should talk to Angela, than you!"  
Chris nodded. He knew that Silas was right, at least about Angela. They hadn't talked since all that happened. Chris had only called Michael one time, to hear if everything was alright. "Ok," he sighed, "if you think you can pretend to be a darklighter..."  
Silas swallowed, but Leo grinned: "Don't worry, I'll take care for him... Just tell me where to go exactly."  
"To a bar called 'the dragon'... Julian is there from time to time, and hopefully also today..."  
Leo nodded. Then he took Silas arm and orbed with him away. Chris did the same only seconds later.

°°°°°°°°°°

When Chris materialised again, he wasn't behind those big trees next to his friends house... he was still in the oracle-chamber.  
"Oh, how funny," he muttered. But when he turned around to the oracle again, he saw it glow.  
"What the hell..." He hadn't the chance to say more, or even to yell. Suddenly the whole room was filled with a blinding white light. And then he saw it... pictures from his future. He saw himself with Wyatt around ten or twelve... in the underworld... demon-hunting!!! He saw how he took care of Wyatt around the age like he was at the moment... when his mom was busy with Christopher. He saw how he soothed Wyatt... after a girl broke his heart the first time. He saw himself taking care of his brother... while he was sleeping on his sofa, with Hope next to him, at the age of maybe six or seven...  
Then it was over, the light was gone.  
Chris sank to his knees exhausted. "What do you want to tell me?" he screamed at the oracle. But he already knew the answer.  
"You are his hero... he needs you," the oracle voiced softly.  
Chris closed his eyes. He knew it was true, Wyatt - the one from the future - had already told him that... partly. He shook his head. That was all a little to much for him to understand at this moment. But nevertheless it cheered him up.  
Then suddenly he felt a presence behind him. He heard a giggle.  
Still on his knees Chris turned around. The next second a little blonde curly head jumped to his arms and hugged him tightly.  
"Wyatt?" the Elder-witch asked surprised. "What are you doing here?"  
"Wyatt and Chris playing?" his brother asked with a smile.  
Chris sighed: "Hey big boy... I really can't..." When he felt the sudden sadness from his brother he interrupted himself. He couldn't say 'no' to him... he couldn't disappoint him. "Ok," he said finally making the boy beam at him happily, "but before I need to meet a friend... So I bring you to mommy - who is surly freaking out because you left her - and when I'm back we play, alright?"  
"Wanna see Mickey too," Wyatt giggled.  
Chris shook his head: "Boy, you're unbelievable..." It felt good to feel that huge joy coming from his brother. That made him happy on his own.  
"Ok... I guess I could also phone mommy from Mike's house, right."  
Wyatt nodded. Chris smiled again, took the boy to his arms and orbed with him away.

°°°°°°°°°°

Tom was in the Golden Gate Park and Veronica had followed him, apathetically; but she was not going to leave him alone. Not in that suicidal adventure he was so willing to take. However, she stayed a little bit aside observing what the young man was doing, while Tom was actually preparing the ground for what was going to come.  
"Tom, please... think about it. I don't think this is a good idea at all..." she said from her safe spot.  
Tom shook his head. "I know what I'm doing, honey. But you should just leave," he said as he set some candles on the ground, properly fixed to it.  
Veronica sighed, and looked around. Their spell to keep people away was working, but she had the feeling that they were making too much use of magic for their own good. That was not good.  
"We should have talked to them. They always know what to do, and they are as interested as you in killing that 'Rhashwhatever'."  
Tom stopped to face her: "Darling, they'd never approve this. They'd want to do it in their way, but I am sure I'm on the right track. I don't want to delay this anymore with their diplomacy..."  
"But they're the Charmed Ones! And they all are as involved in this as we are! Tom!" she was almost begging, moving her feet on the ground nervously, and unsure about whether she should step forward or backwards, or what she should actually do.  
Tom shook his head again and gave his back to her, in order to continue his task. The candles were all them settled now... "Go, Veronica... I can do this alone."  
She swallowed. He had not even looked at her. Had he gone nuts?? "Tom..."  
_"Magic powers, fight my fears..."_  
"Tom, for God's sake, stop it."  
_"Let me find what should be here..."  
_"Tom, are you in your fucking mind??" she was starting to really freak out.  
_"And as he crosses the forbidden gate..."  
_"THOMAS LORENZ MARSDEN!!"  
_"Let me cross it and find my way."  
_"Shit..." Veronica could not believe her ears and eyes. He had done it. He had not even hesitated, looked back at her, or startled at her yells, but she had no time to think more about it.  
Something started to happen right away, which made her gasped for air... A small tornado originated in the middle of the circle of candles, and grew more and more, very slowly. All the candles were put out, but Tom kept strangely immobile.  
Suddenly, something that none of them expected happened. There was a small explosion that flung Veronica on her back to the ground. She immediately stood up, but when she could finally see something, there was nothing to see. The candles were gone, and Tom too. And people were again walking peacefully in the park, as if nothing at all had happened.  
Veronica went pale and felt as if she was going to faint. What the hell...? She had to find help. Quickly. Something was completely wrong.

°°°°°°°°°°

Leo walked confidently in the Underworld, followed by an insecure and trembling Silas. He was too old for that, he repeated to himself once and again. Too old...  
For those who actually knew them, it was a pretty funny sight. Leo and Silas dressed up in black instead of the typical white and golden Elder robe, and covered with dust and dirt, filthy as... as demons.  
"It is over here... I think," Leo said.  
Silas rushed a little bit to keep up with him, and whispered: "Are you sure they do not suspect anything? They're looking at us in such a weird way..."  
Leo sighed: "Just act normal. They won't suspect if you do, but if you keep whispering..."  
"If I act 'normal' they will suspect for sure!"  
Leo frowned and turned to him: "Ok... Just don't speak. Do as I do, and all will be fine."  
Silas nodded: "Alright..."  
They kept on walking, until finally they saw the entrance of that weird bar that Chris had told them all about. A demonic bar... He hoped he could find Julian there. Leo stopped for a second hesitantly, but then he just went in, and Silas did the same, sure that they would not make it out of there again.  
They looked around. The place was full of dirty tables covered with liquors and food. The floor was equally damp and dusty, and the noise was unbearable. Evil laughter and more swearing words than actual conversation were heard here and there, driving Silas crazy and making him dizzy. The smell was more than disgusting, and it was hot... so hot. Silas wiped out the sweat on his forehead as he followed Leo to the bar.  
"He cried like a damned pig. The little bastard... He thought he could vanquish me!" And this was followed by evil laughs.  
"That reminds me of the witchy we kidnapped yesterday... Yeah, it was just for fun. And man... It WAS fun to torture her to death."  
Leo turned the head to Silas. He was sort of lost, his eyes fixed somewhere among the crowd. Probably he had heard too much of the funny conversations taking place around them.  
"What are you gonna drink?" the man at the bar asked, a very common demon.  
Leo elbowed Silas softly, and he seemed to come to reality, but he was kind of greenish. "Give us a couple of minutes."  
The bar-demon nodded staring at them unfriendly. Then he left.  
"Silas... What would you like to drink?"  
Silas looked at him, wordless, lost; then he shrugged weakly: "W-w-w...what am I supposed to drink down here? Lava?"  
Leo opened his mouth but shut up, shocked. Then he burst into laughter. That had been really funny... But they needed to go unnoticed, so they had to order something... whatever.  
"I recommend you to drink something soft if you're suffering from stomach-ache."  
They both turned startled at the voice behind them, just to face a well-known and not so friendly face.  
"Julian!" they exclaimed.  
"What are you doing here?" he asked, coldly, mostly because of the fear of being discovered.

°°°°°°°°°°

Piper was laughing heartily. "Yeah," Bianca added, "I mean he was 15 and not that big like he is now... and still he wanted to fight with that 8 feet high guy just because he tried to flirt with me..."  
Piper shook her head: "But wasn't it kind of weird to have such a young boyfriend?"  
"Well... we weren't dating at that time, if that's what you mean."  
The witch looked at her surprised: "But I thought you and him... I mean, he said it was love at first sight and that you..."  
"Oh yeah... I know..." the Phoenix interrupted her, "he likes to tell that story, that we had been together from the beginning... But God, he was 14 when we met the first time... he was just a kid!!!"  
Piper shook her head. She was kind of relieved to hear that. The thought of her 14-year-old boy dating an 18-year-old woman was something she really didn't want to think about. "So it wasn't love at first sight?" she asked.  
Bianca grinned: "I didn't say that... When I saw him the first time, there was something in his eyes which made me shiver... in the positive sense... Yeah I guess I had a crush on him that day... but even if he told me how much he liked me, I kept telling him that he should grow up first, before talking about things like that..."  
"Oh I bet he wasn't satisfied with that..."  
"Oh no... of course not..." Bianca said chuckling. "He was really persistent... But then... oh you should have seen him. It was his 16th birthday... he told me once the date, but I think he had forgotten about that... Anyway, that day I surprised him with a cake - a very lousy one compared to yours - but he liked it..." The eyes of the Phoenix began to sparkle when she thought back to that day. "That day we kissed the first time... And then... Gosh... that was so amazing... And I guess I had never seen so much weird happiness in his eyes again till the day he found out that I'm pregnant."  
"Oh... ok, I understand... I don't think I need a more detailed picture..." Piper interrupted her smiling.  
Now the Phoenix laughed heartily. Sometimes she just forgot that this woman was her mother in law, because actually Piper was for her more like a best friend.  
But when she turned to her again, she froze, when she saw the worry and fear written in Piper's face. "What happened?" Bianca asked concerned.  
"Where is Wyatt?" Piper asked unnatural calm, still looking at the playground.  
Bianca turned her head around to look for the boy. But he was nowhere to see. "Oh my God," she muttered.  
Meanwhile Piper started to scream: "Leo!!! Chris!!! LEO!!!"

°°°°°°°°°°

Cole jumped startled when Odin materialised in front of them. Phoebe chuckled: "Thought you were already used to that?"  
"I am," Cole complained.  
"Good morning, Odin," Paige said, even if it was already afternoon.  
The Elder looked at the three witches confused. That family always threw him out of concept and the noise at the manor did it's part too.  
"What do you want?" Phoebe asked noticing his confusion.  
Odin sighed: "Your help..."  
"What?" Paige exclaimed. "No... not today... we have a dinner in about three hours and there is nothing that will spoil it, clear?"  
"Clear," Odin said, "but that also means you have two and a half hours to help me..."  
Phoebe sighed, while Cole said teasing: "God, you spend too much time with Chris."  
Odin nodded, not really understanding the joke, and said: "Maybe, but it was his idea to ask you for help to search through the books of the library and also through your book to see if Wyatt had another...  
"Stop, stop, stop!" Paige said. "Why don't you tell us what happened first?"  
Odin's sighed again: "We had been attacked. Or better three of us. One of us got nearly killed and the other two were kidnapped... and all that happened up there." With this he pointed at the ceiling.  
"WHAT?" The three exclaimed at the same time.

_

* * *

(Chapter 3 written by Chrissy.W.x and Belén)_


	4. Chapter 4

**A Charmed Story - Part Nine:  
I, Myself And The Elders  
Chapter 4**

When Michael opened the door he saw a small blonde boy smiling and stretching his arms to him. "Hey Mickey..." Wyatt said. Then he noticed Chris who stood behind his little brother and rubbed his temples.  
"What are you doing here?" he asked confused. They had agreed not to meet until Angela said it was ok...  
"Sorry, but this little boy escaped from his mom. And Piper is actually screaming for me and Leo, so can I use your phone to tell her where Wyatt is?" Chris asked still rubbing his temples. Pipers voice in his head was really disturbing.  
Michael sighed. "Ok," he said and let his friend in. He led him to the lounge and showed him the phone, praying that he had time to go to Angela and warn her about the visit before she... A crash of glasses and plates made the two men turn.  
"Broken..." Wyatt said pointing at the glass on the floor, giggling, held back by Chris's hand.  
"Angy..." 'Shit,' Michael thought. She had been in the kitchen for half an hour, why the hell had she decided to come back right now? He sighed.  
"Oh, my G-g-g-od..." she sat down trembling.  
Chris wanted to say something, but a voice from the other side of the receiver distracted him.  
"Mom?? Yeah, it's me... Ok, ok, I didn't orb right there because Wyatt is with me. Don't worry. I'll take care... promise... Calm down, mom... He'll be alright... Yeah..." As he talked, he looked at Angela and Michael out of the corner of his eyes. He shouldn't have come... Shit... "Yeah, mom... I'll take him home as soon as we're done... No, mom... I can't tell you ...ok ... Later... Yes, I know... Actually I should be talking to her right now... Yes... she'll understand... Shit!" Wyatt had escaped from his hand and run towards Angela, who jumped a little bit, startled.  
"It's ok, sweetie, you know him, he's just a kid," Michael tried to calm her down.  
"Hello!" a smiling Wyatt said, jumping on the sofa by Angela.  
"Sorry mom... I didn't want to swear but seriously... need to leave. Give a kiss to Bianca. I'll be back in a while." And he hung up the phone, turning to his hosts and sighing, wordless.  
"Can I eat cookies?" Wyatt asked.  
"We don't have cookies, kid..." Michael answered, looking worried at his wife.  
Chris shook his head and went to take Wyatt's hand again, noticing how Angela flinched when he approached. He felt so bad... He was not even able to look her in the eyes. "Sorry..." he muttered, "he's just a... a kid."  
Then he knelt by Wyatt: "No cookies now, man. Chris needs to talk with them and Wyatt is gonna be good, promise?" Wyatt nodded very serious, as he sucked his thumb.  
Chris smiled, and then raised his eyes, just to turn serious and concerned again. Angela was staring at him, so full of fear...  
"I am sorry, Angy, I... I needed to talk to..."  
She swallowed: "Why did you do it, Chris?"  
"Pardon me?" Chris frowned. That was the first time that Angela actually talked to him after what had happened some months before. He looked at Michael wonderingly but he shrugged. It was too late to go back now...  
"Why did you lie to me. Why did you hide all those things from me and treated me as a kid who can not understand what is going on?"  
Chris tried to keep his eyes on hers, but her look was so accusingly that he had to lower his eyes. "I... I am sorry... Angela, you have to understand, we thought it was the best thing we could do."  
"I trusted you. I've been thinking that I had had another life that I was actually another kind of person, all this time. And he... YOU, Michael, you knew everything..."  
Her husband lowered his eyes too. They hadn't talked about it all that time. She had just forgiven him, but bringing all these memories right now could be a disaster.  
"Angela, I am sorry... Truly sorry... But I really need to talk with you two. Actually..." Chris turned his face to Michael, "I need to talk to her... To you, Angy."  
She shook her head energetically. "No more magic at all. Not in my life," she answered, half angry and half freaked out.  
Chris felt that his eyes filled with tears, and tried to hide his face from Wyatt who was now very quiet and somehow scared by the weird situation.  
"I am so sorry that I put you in this situation, and that this was all my fault, as it is always. Everything I do is a problem for someone else, but..." He looked her in the eyes again. God, he felt so much guilt. It laid heavily on his heart. "That is why I did it. And that is why I have decided that this time, as soon as we solve the problem we have now and for which I need your help, I will erase your memories... both of yours." He paused, looking aside: "If you agree of course. You can be happy and won't see me again. And I want you to know that I will probably stop being an Elder too. I can't stand this anymore." His eyes were now completely wet and his voice trembled a little.  
Michael shook his head and patted his shoulder: "Chris..." He did not know what to do.  
Angela stared at him coldly. Actually, lost in her thoughts. She could not blame him, but she needed to blame someone for all the things that had happened to her, and this was the easy way. And now she felt like shit.  
"Are you mad at Chris?" Wyatt asked with his sweet voice, as he grasped Angela's hand. She turned to him, flinching a bit, but said nothing.  
"Wyatt, this is adult's business..." Chris said.  
But the child went on. He was crying. "But Chris is good... And he is very sad, 'cause he likes you and Mickey and you don't."  
"Wyatt, please..." Chris stood up and took the boy's hand: "Ok, need to go." He dried his eyes, and prepared to orb back, embarrassed. "I am sorry, I should not have come."  
"Wait..." It was Angela's voice. Michael was holding her hand, sadly. "Wait, Chris..."

°°°°°°°°°°

"And?" Bianca asked worried.  
"He's with Chris," Piper answered and put her mobile phone back into her bag.  
"Yeah, ok... I got that, but what is he doing at Michael's house?" Both women had recognised the number when the phone had rang.  
"I don't know," Piper said, "he didn't tell... he seemed to be in a hurry..."  
She frowned. But then she smiled and added: "I shall send you a kiss from him."  
Bianca blushed: "Thanks."  
They both kept silent for a while.  
"So..." Piper said then, "what are we gonna do now?"  
Bianca narrowed her eyes, hard thinking. Then her eyes began to sparkle: "What about a massage? Actually we could need something to relax..."  
Piper looked at her and couldn't help laughing: "Sounds great!"

°°°°°°°°°°

Kyle looked up when the door to his office was opened and Darryl's head appeared in the frame.  
"I'll leave now, I have to pick up Sheila..." he said  
Kyle nodded: "Alright..."  
Darryl still stood in the door: "Shall we maybe pick you up, too...???"  
"No thanks, I think I know the way..."  
His friend nodded, but then he closed the door and went nearer to the desk.  
"What?" Kyle asked.  
"Well..." he sighed, "I just want to ask, if you're sure that... I mean... you know what I mean..."  
Kyle grinned: "Yeah, I am... I am..."  
"Is everything ok?" Darryl asked frowning. His friend seemed to be kind of weird sometimes, since he knew about magic... Sometimes he just wasn't sure what was going on inside this brain...  
"Yeah... I guess it is..." Kyle answered with a sigh.  
Darryl frowned: "Paige?" His friend nodded. "I see," the detective said and sat down in front of him. "You like her... but you're not sure about what to do, because she is who she is?" Kyle nodded again.  
His friend sighed: "I can't tell you what you should do... that's something you have to find out on your own... But I can tell you one thing: Follow your heart."  
"Thanks," Kyle muttered.  
Then Darryl looked at his watch: "Ok, I really need to go now... See you later..."  
"Yeah... See you," Kyle answered. His friend nodded and then left him alone.

°°°°°°°°°°

Leo, Silas and Julian had sat down in one corner of the bar, where they were kind of undisturbed.  
"So again... What are you doing here?" Julian asked.  
Silas just looked unsure form Julian to Leo. He was scared, he was really scared... Two Elders in a demonic bar... If they would be discovered...  
"Chris send us, to ask you, if you know something more about Rha..."  
"Shhhhhh," Julian said... "Don't say his name... not here..."  
Leo nodded: "So?"  
The colored witch looked around carefully then he whispered: "There are rumours that he had stolen some powers, but we don't have a proof."  
"We??? And... What kind of powers?" Leo asked. Julian shrugged.  
"Maybe some which would let him enter... well... up there...?" Silas asked. He slowly began to enjoy this adventure.  
Julian srugged. "No idea."  
"Have you any idea where he hides?" Leo asked.  
"No..." he made a break, "unless you do me a favour, too..."  
"What favour?" Silas asked suspicious.  
Julian grinned: "I want the power of sensing."  
"What?" the Elder exclaimed.  
But Leo put his hand on his arm and sent him a glare to calm him down. "For what?" he asked then, looking back at the demonic witch.  
Again Julian grinned: "It would make my job much more easier..."  
Silas was about to freak out again, but Leo stopped him. Then he looked at the witch with narrowed eyes. Chris trusted him in a way, he knew that, even if he didn't understand it... But that was a huge favour.  
"We have to discuss that first," Leo said finally, "can we meet here again?"  
Julian nodded: "In four hours I'll be here again." Then he stood up, paid for all of them and left the bar.

°°°°°°°°°°

Chris turned to them again slowly, while Wyatt freed himself. He jumped to the sofa again and begged, still sobbing: "Don't be mad at my brother... 'cause he's the best brother in the world." He stretched out his little arms to underline his last words. "And he's sooo sad, that you don't like him anymore... and I'm sad too... I'm sad 'cause he's sad."  
"Wyatt..." Chris said begging, "come over here, it's better when we go now. I caused enough trouble today." His eyes were still watery and Michael began to wonder what happened to him, that he was so... well... not himself.  
"No," Angela said. Then she turned to Michael: "Is he always doing that... feeling guilty for everything?"  
Her husband shrugged: "I guess..." Then he nodded.  
Angela turned to Wyatt who was still sitting next to her looking at her with his big blue eyes. 'Damned,' she thought, 'he's about three... he's just a kid...' She took a deep breath before she smiled at him: "I have no cookies, but do you like some chocolate?"  
When Wyatt heard the word 'chocolate' he beamed at Angela and nodded energetically.  
"So... then go with Mike to the kitchen and he will give you some..."  
Wyatt turned to Chris: "Can I?"  
The Elder-witch smiled weakly and nodded. So Wyatt stood up and pulled Michael out of the room.  
Angela turned to Chris: "And you? Sit down... I need you to explain some things to me."  
Chris hesitated for a moment. Then he sat down on the edge of the table: "So what do you want me to explain?"  
"First: Why did you do that to me, why did you made me forget?"  
Chris sighed: "The Elders did... it was their decision, to keep the secret of magic. And on the other hand we thought it would be better for all of you NOT to know what happened to you... Not to remember."  
"But what if I wanted to remember?" Angela asked again. "And why was Mike allowed to remember?"  
Chris lowered his eyes: "They let him his memories, because he... well he begged me, and I begged them for not erase his memories... because he's the best friend I have in this time and in this world... actually he was my first real friend here, who was not family..." He made a short break before he add: "I'm sorry... I know this was selfish... If I hadn't... If I had erase his memories too, none of those things had ever happened to you... I'm sorry..."

°°°°°°°°°°

Meanwhile, Steve had gone straight back home. He just nodded when Chris told him that he had to leave. He would have liked to talk more with him, but he totally understood. He just took his things, exhaling a deep sigh, and went out of the magic school.  
Nicki was already at his home, waiting for him; that was her free day. She had no classes to teach, and she took advantage of that to learn something herself. She was reading some books on magic and other stuff like that, when he arrived.  
"Hey, I thought you'd be home today with your parents..." he muttered, smiling weakly. Nicki raised her head and grinned: "Do you want me away?"  
Steve shook his head, at the same time he left the books on a chair. "Of course not. I am so pleased to have you here..."  
Nicki, still smiling, stood up and went to him, in order to kiss him. "How was your day?" she asked.  
Steve hesitated for a moment: "Good... Quite good."  
She nodded: "Great, because now we are gonna have something really good for lunch; I cooked your favourite dish." Steve smiled. That was so great...  
But suddenly, something would spoil everything. The phone rang, and Veronica was on the other side.

°°°°°°°°°°

Paige sighed, looking at her watch: "Ok, I think it's time to go home..."  
Odin looked at her begging: "Please, give me just 15 more minutes... We... I..." The Elder was kind of freaked out, they had already noticed. That someone had entered their halls up their was scaring him, not to mention the fact that this person nearly killed one of them and kidnapped two others.  
"Ok, ok," Paige said and grasped another book.  
"Here I have something," Cole suddenly said. All the heads turned to him.  
"And what?" Odin asked impatient. Cole shortly looked at him, then started to read.  
_"Rhashirk - upper level demon. Was banished around 1650 by the old source of all evil, cause he turned to be a rival for the source. His powers were a weird mixture of everything. He had telekinetical powers, sensing, fire- and energy balls and if someone was close to death but not dead, he could absorb his powers, too - as long as the body was in the weak state. If the person was healed or died he lost the power again. From that day he was banished he wasn't seen again."  
_"That sounds not good," Odin muttered turning pale.  
"So he could actually use the Elders he had kidnapped to take their powers... That's sounds more than 'not good'!" Cole added.  
Phoebe sighed: "We still don't to know enough... So I guess we should look through the older books to find out more..."  
"And the dinner?" Paige asked desperate.

°°°°°°°°°°

Kyle stood in front of the manor... since about 10 minutes. He still was not sure about all that... but he liked Paige a lot, maybe even more than that... So, shouldn't he stop being afraid? But still... what if they would be attacked again... Because that seemed to happen really often at that house.  
He sighed finally and climbed up the steps. He rang the doorbell and waited...  
But nothing happened. He rang again...  
Nothing!  
"Paige!" he yelled.  
Nothing.  
He sighed and stepped back to the street again, when a car stopped in front of him.  
"Hey Kyle," Darryl said while stepping out the car and then helping Sheila, "have you got cold feet?"  
The young man moved his hand through his hair nervously. "No, actually... it seems there is no one at home..."  
"What?" Sheila asked. "That's mysterious... They never forgot a dinner before..." Together they went back to the door. Again they rang the bell, but nothing happened.  
Kyle sighed again and Sheila looked at him. Smiling she patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure they are fine."  
The young man looked at her startled. He hadn't thought about that actually something could have happened to them. What if... Oh no, he didn't want to think about that.  
Sheila noticed the worried look on his face and put an arm around him: "Don't worry... I'm sure they are just a little distracted... I mean, they have two babies in this house."  
Kyle smiled weakly... babies and demons - a weird combination...  
At that moment they heard a voice in their back: "Hey, what are you doing their in front of the door? Why don't you enter?"  
They turned around to face Piper and Bianca with the babies. They had just come back from their little walk.  
"Actually your sisters seem to be not at home," Darryl remarked. "And the craftsmen are already gone, I think."  
Piper frowned and climbed the steps to open the door. But before she hugged everyone to welcome them, also Kyle.  
Bianca followed her, doing the same. When she came to Kyle, she smiled at him. "Good to see you again here," she said.  
"Thanks," he said kind of shyly.  
Bianca smiled even more warmly at him: "Don't worry, everything is fine..."  
He nodded, smiling weakly: "Yeah, well that's what everyone keeps telling me."  
"Sheila where is your son?" Piper asked while unlocking the door.  
The woman smiled warmly: "He's sleeping at a friend's house tonight..."  
Piper nodded before they all entered the manor and the oldest Halliwell started yelling for her sisters...  
Kyle looked around nervously. Then his eyes went over to the sofa he sat on, when he was there the last time... when the demon shimmered in. He shivered.  
Again he felt a hand on his shoulder. This time it was Darryl who smiled at him and said: "Just relax..."  
Kyle nodded. At that moment Paige orbed in, startling him. He hadn't seen her doing that since... well... since all that had started.  
When the witch-whitelighter noticed his scared look she smiled weakly.  
"Where are Phoebe and Cole?" Piper asked, while Bianca put the kids into the playpen.  
"Well... The Elders have a little demon-problem. We had been with Odin at the school to help them with the research and Phoebe and Cole are still there..." Paige explained, noticing that Kyle's face went paler and paler.  
"Little demon-problem?" Bianca asked worried, remembering the weird feeling she had when they had met Chris this afternoon.  
Paige shrugged. She didn't want to tell more about that, as long as Kyle was with them... "Yeah... nothing big... and nothing that has to do with us, so... They just needed some more eyes to help reading through all those books"  
At that moment the door on the stairs appeared and Phoebe and Cole went through it. "Hello everyone," the empath greeted while Cole just waved his hand. Kyle had noticed the appearing and disappearing door, but this time he wasn't surprised or something, he just noticed it as if it was something normal... he was sure it was normal, at this place. Maybe he really began to get used to it.  
Piper sighed relieved that now everyone was there... She smiled: "Ok, then sit down on the table, the meal will be ready in a few minutes..." Then she turned to her sister: "Paige, could you give our guests something to drink?"  
She nodded and followed her sister to the kitchen. But before she whispered to Cole: "What happened?"  
"Nothing," he whispered back, "Phoebe just reminded Odin that Kyle is here today too, and that it would be better for all of us to handle him first and then go back to that demon."  
Paige looked at him angry: "Cole, he isn't an object you could handle... But..." Then she smiled: "Thanks."  
Meanwhile Phoebe had approached Kyle examining him from head to foot. She frowned, but then her eyes grew wide. She turned to the kitchen, where her sisters were already gone to, and yelled: "Paige damned... A blocking potion?????"  
Kyle couldn't help chuckling and Darryl smiled relieved seeing how his friend began to relax.

°°°°°°°°°°

For a moment, Angela looked in Chris's sad eyes, and little by little started to be moved by the young man's attitude. She shook her head, trying to hide her distress from his begging look.  
"Angy, I am truly sorry, I promise. I wish I could change everything, but the only thing I can really do is erase your memories again, and Mike's, if you agree... And promise that I will get out of your lives, I promise I'll do, I..."  
Angela took his hand softly: "Stop it... Self-pity does not help with me."  
Chris was shocked, but then he saw her smile, and he himself smiled weakly, lowering his eyes.  
"Chris... Just understand how I feel. How I felt when I realised that all my life had been a lie..."  
Chris nodded, turning serious again. "I never thought of it. I just thought that it could help." He raised his eyes: "Look, Angy... If we hadn't done it, this would be a mess... Everything. All those people belonging to a different century, just discovering that they live in this time, and that they have lost everyone they loved, and their own lives... I regret not having erased Mike's memories just because of my weakness; but not having erased yours." He looked now in her eyes, waiting for her reaction.  
But she simply smiled: "I understand it, Chris. But don't regret having left Mike's memories untouched, please. You're also his best friend... I know. And I am sorry about all this, because I was just in the middle... I am sorry. But Chris. This, time, please... I want my memories. I don't want that huge black hole in my memory again. Those twenty years in that other... that other place... they are part of my life, too."  
Chris stared at her for a second. Then he looked aside and swallowed. "You forgive me?" he asked.  
She grinned and let his hand go: "I do. And you... Do you forgive me?"  
Chris swallowed again, trying to hold back his tears, and nodded: "How wouldn't I? It was all my fault..."  
"Oh, yes...yes. Ok... Then, please, forgive yourself first," she was still smiling, and he couldn't help grin a little bit.  
"Alright..." he muttered.  
"And promise me that... Please, that you won't bring magic, or whatever it is, to my house again." She was begging, rather than demanding. "Listen, Chris: It's just that I am scared of all that. I want to live a life as normal as possible, that is all. And with all I know now... About that time I had to live there and all... It's gonna be pretty difficult. I don't want to be in the middle of you and Mike. I am not prohibiting you to come, or whatever. Just, please... No magic."  
He smiled at her, but she kept on talking: "And I also want you to know, that I remember everything... I mean, EVERYthing: Especially what you did that day, just to save us all. That you were about to die. The same as the other day... Just to save me again. And I can't but thank you, Chris, and be sorry for having been such a asshole... I was just so scared."  
Chris stared at her in shock. He did not know what to say, after all that: "I... That is what we do, Angy... You don't have to thank me. But yes, I promise, with all my heart, that there won't be more magic. I do promise... I just need a bit of help now. Just information. And I promise that you won't have more magic around."  
Angela smiled and ended up hugging the young man in front of her. At that moment they heard the cute voice of Wyatt: "Can we go in now, Mickey? They aren't talkin' anymore."  
The two heads turned to the door, just to see how Michael was trying to grab Wyatt and hold him back, blushing significantly: "No, Wyatt, not yet..." He then realised that they had seen him, and smiled apologetically: "Sorry... I could not stop him."  
"It's ok, Mike, you can come in, we're done," Angela said, seeing out of the corner of her eye how Chris wiped his tears away.  
Wyatt pulled Michael towards them, while he ate chocolate with the other hand. "Want chocolate, Chris?" he said, stretching his arm to give his brother one piece.  
Chris grinned, his eyes still watery: "No, Wyatt... That is yours."  
Wyatt frowned, angrily: "I don't want the chocolate for me only, I want you eat 'cause you're sad."  
Chris chuckled, and took a piece: "Ok, ok... I'll eat it. I am sure the chocolate is..." he was going to say 'magical' but he stopped, "special, and will make me happy again."

°°°°°°°°°°

Odin was submerged into the book, reading the entry again and again. He had never been scared in his life, not really... but now he was. What he had read about that demon... it let him froze terrified. He was reading it again and again, trying to find a trace of hope, a hint how to stop him. But there was none. He sighed and started reading again. He didn't look up when his friends orbed in.  
"Have you found something?" Silas asked, his voice full of hope.  
Odin sighed and showed them the entry. Both, Silas and Leo, went pale.  
"And you?" he asked then.  
"Well... maybe we've found someone who knows something," Leo answered cryptically.  
Silas rolled his eyes: "Julian knows where he hides, and he will tell us if we give him the power of sensing."  
"WHAT?" Odin exclaimed.  
"We don't know what he really knows," Leo added, "but yes, that's what he said."  
"We can't do that!" Odin remarked surprisingly dryly.  
Leo sighed: "I know it's risky... but Chris trusts him, and after all you had found... Don't you think it could be worth it???"  
Silas, who didn't know what to think about all that, looked from one to the other.  
Odin thought about that... Leo was right, Chris trusted Julian. But who knows for which reasons he did so... Still they had not much to work with at the moment. "Ok," Odin said finally, "bring me all the data we have about that witch... I'll have a look on that, and then we decide." Leo nodded.  
"Wait... what about the school?" Silas asked, suddenly hit by a real bad thought.  
Odin nodded: "We should close it for a while... and the Elders up there should hide, too."

_

* * *

(Chapter 4 written by Chrissy.W.x and Belén)_


	5. Chapter 5

**A Charmed Story - Part Nine:  
I, Myself And The Elders  
Chapter 5**

The atmosphere while they had been eating was very relaxed. Everyone was laughing and joking. One moment Darryl thought Kyle would freak out. The man had asked for the salt. Paige, who sat next to him, summoned it to her hand and offered it him. But then Darryl saw to his surprise that Kyle took it without hesitation, even if he had a weird look on his face for a moment.  
After the really delicious soup and some chicken for the main part, Piper announced that the dessert would need ten minutes to prepare, because it had to be fresh.  
So Bianca went over to the living room to look after the sleeping babies, followed by Sheila and Darryl. Phoebe rose from her chair too, just to sit down on Cole's lap again, kissing him.  
Paige shook her head, then she turned to Kyle: "Do you like to see the house?" He nodded, so she took his hand and pulled him to the stairs.  
They walked around for a while and Kyle watched astonished all the things the sisters are working on at the moment. The whole first floor was a huge construction site. "Actually there will be build two completely new rooms... And downstairs, the sunroom will move a little, because we need a base for the enlargements up here, and so that we gain also a new room down there, too..." Paige explained, when she saw his wide opened eyes.  
"Wow," Kyle muttered and then turned to her. "Why don't you just live in your own houses... wouldn't that be easier?"  
Paige chuckled: "Easier? Yes... Safer? No!" He looked at her confused so she tried to explain: "Look... Me and my sisters, we're the 'Power of Three' we're very powerful witches... We're strong as long as we're together... and the demons know that... If we would separate from each other like that, they would try to gain an advantage out of this..." Kyle rose his eyebrows a little scared and worried about those revilement. But Paige went on: "It's not that they will kill us as soon as we're not in the same room... I mean, you know... But... Some of us tried to leave that house... and it never worked, we all ended up here again... So now, we've given up."  
Kyle sighed: "So, that means if I ever want to marry you, I have to marry your whole family?"  
Paige was kind of shocked by that question. She didn't know what to say... Could that be that he...? 'No...' she thought. They hadn't even kissed until now. But then Kyle began to chuckle and Paige joined him relieved.  
"So where do those stairs lead to?" he asked then.  
Paige hesitated a moment, then she said: "To the attic... our... 'magical chamber' if you know what I mean."  
Kyle turned to her, but the witch-whitelighter couldn't see worry or fear in his eyes... only curiosity. "Can I see it?" he asked.  
Paige smiled surprised. "Of course," she said and went ahead.  
Up there Kyle looked around completely overwhelmed by all that magical stuff spread around there. There were books and little vials - empty and full ones. There was a map on the table and a crystal lying there too. And between all that where tons of old family-stuff like in every usual attic. The most outstanding thing through, was the huge old book standing in front of the window.  
He smiled. "What?" the witch-whitelighter asked confused.  
"Nothing," he said, "I think, I just expected a little more magic. It looks more normal up here, than I had expected."  
Paige chuckled and before she even realised it, she said: "Oh man... That's why I love you, do you know that?" Then she froze and blushed. She hadn't meant to say that, she even hadn't realised that she felt like that... But it was the truth, she loved him.  
Kyle just looked at her unsure what to do. Finally he asked shyly: "Do... Do you really mean that?"  
She nodded looking as shy as he did. "And you?" she asked after a break of silence. 'God, what a stupid questions,' she thought to herself.  
He sighed: "At that moment? I'm confused..." He turned away from her looking out of the window." Paige lowered her head. She had expected every reaction, but not that he was just 'confused'.  
"But...," Kyle said, turning back to her, "yeah I love you, too."  
Paige looked at him hesitating, then she went over and hugged him, leaning her head on his chest.  
Kyle hugged her back for a moment, then he lifted her chin and looked her into her beautiful eyes. Slowly he moved closer to her and finally he placed a soft but intense kiss on her lips.  
"PAIGE! KYLE! DESERT IS READY!" Piper yelled that moment from downstairs.  
Both sighed. Then Paige started to go back to the stairs, but Kyle hold her back. Again he gave her a soft kiss and then said: "I think I should get used to your way of transporting so... if you like..."  
Paige smiled, then orbed with him back to the dining room.

°°°°°°°°°°

Angela had agreed to talk to Chris about what had happened. And surprisingly she really remembered a lot. She told Chris about that place which was kind of dark, everything seemed dark there, but not that dark that she couldn't have seen anything. She told him about the cave she was in, and the things she saw there, the chains and the other horrible things. And she told him about the trees outside in the darkness... and the wolves...  
Chris sighed and felt pity that she had to live all that... just because of him. But there was nothing he could do for her at that moment.  
Finally he said goodbye and prepared to leave with his brother. He shook hands with Angela and Wyatt hugged her childishly.  
"I'll come with you a little bit, need to take out the trash anyway..." Michael said. And so they left the house together.  
On their way to the back of the house from where Chris and Wyatt could orb without being seen and without disturbing Angela, Michael turned to his friend with a worried look: "Ok, now we're not IN my house so... Please, tell me what's going on... What has happened that you're so... so not like you?"  
Chris sighed: "It's nothing, Mike... I'm just..."  
"No," his friend interrupted him, "I know you... and you would never talk like that... you would never say that you don't want your powers... you would never say that you wished things would be different, because I know you love the life you have!"  
Chris took a deep breath: "Ok..."

°°°°°°°°°°

Nicki was on the phone for only a couple of minutes, even less... Too short for such a great transformation, something that could not pass unnoticed to Steve. She was paler now, and even shivering a little bit, and would not dare to look the man in the eyes. She hung up and passed by Steve in the direction of the door, muttering some incomprehensible words. The only thing Steve got was: "I'll be back right away... Veronica wants to talk."  
Steve grabbed her arm as she passed by him, and stood up, looking at her worriedly: "What is it? What happened?"  
Nicki looked aside and let go off him: "Girl stuff, you know... Nothing you need to worry about, she just needs to talk."  
Steve took her chin smoothly and made her look him in the eyes: "Is it for Tom?"  
She flinched a little bit, but got over it very quickly, and smiled nervously: "Well, every couple has its problems, and they are having a bad moment, but..."  
Steve shook his head, stopping her once again: "They are not having that good time, and that is for me. But anyway... I don't believe you, Nicki, and I don't like that. You would never turn that pale just because Veronica and Tom are having problems. That kind of problems, I mean..."  
Nicki kept his look for a moment, and then lowered her eyes. "Steve, it is ok... You don't need to worry, really, this is something that Veronica and I can solve, ok??"  
He took her hand again, this time more softly, and shook his head: "Nicki. What is going on? You can tell me..."  
She swallowed as she stared at him. How could she hide something from him? And especially now, that she herself was freaking out... But letting him know about it... Letting him know that, might lead him to another crisis, and she did not want to undergo that again. But he would persist...  
"He's gone."  
Steve frowned: "What do you mean, 'He's gone'? He left?"  
Nicki swallowed again, and shook her head: "No... Or yes, actually, but..."  
"Nicki, for God's sake, what is going on?" He was starting to lose his calmness.  
She startled and looked in his eyes: "He disappeared. In the park. He cast a spell to..." She paused. "He wanted to find out something, and he just disappeared. But maybe we are worried about nothing, you know... It was a spell and it must have worked. So..."  
Steve was petrified. Tom had disappeared... "W-w-what spell? What did he want to do?" he finally asked.  
Nicki sighed: "Steve..."  
"It is for me, isn't it? He wanted to find who did that to me," he whispered.  
Nicki did not answer. She was frozen now, scared that he got crazy, or mad at him, or her, or that he started to feel bad again and tried something stupid, or...  
"We have to find him," he added then, looking really determined.  
Nicki could not believe her eyes: For a moment she had seen that bright in his eyes again; for a moment, Steve had been back. But maybe it was just a hallucination.  
"He would have done that for me. He did. And he is lost now, because he was doing it again. I have to bring him back," she heard him saying again.

°°°°°°°°°°

When Tom finally realised that he had actually moved, that he was not in the Golden Gate Park, or at least that he wasn't in the one he knew, as he knew it, it was too late. Darkness surrounded him, and instead of the beautiful well-cared trees of the park, there was a deep forest whose trees were so tall and thick that they hid the moon and its light.  
This was definitely not like he had planed this. He wanted to open a portal, but he didn't want to be pulled into that dark world like this... THIS was NOT good!  
He heard the howling of wolves and other night-creatures, and turned scared, feeling a bit lost in the middle of the deepest darkness, when a hand grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.  
"Welcome to my world, buddy. But you should know that I hate surprises..." a very well known voice said, making Tom froze out of fear.  
The demon dragged him to a damp cold cave, and put him in chains before he could even scream.  
"You're not gonna get what you want, you know?" Tom said, trying to sound confident.  
An evil laughter filled the cave, which was in complete darkness. Tom knew he was talking to Rhashirk, but he could not see him.  
"You think so, boy? You don't know... Last time they were prepared. This time, I have some aces up on my sleeves..." He lighted a torch, which was placed on the wall, and illumined the cave, so that Tom could see around him, but the boy was blinded by the sudden light, and closed his hurting eyes. Rhashirk grabbed his face violently and made him look around. "My aces..." he said.  
Tom opened his eyes, scared and nervous at the same time, and he saw them... Two Elders, in their white and golden robes, lying unconscious, or perhaps dead, on the ground. Tom's eyes opened widely at that sight: "How did you...?"  
"How did I get them?" he smirked evilly. "How did I contact Adam? Or... How could I hurt your friend?" Then he paused, feeling Tom's heart beating fast. "There's no place where I can't go, here or in any world, my friend... No place." And he laughed evilly.

°°°°°°°°°°

"So?" Michael asked sitting down on a bench in their garden.  
"So... actually I have some problems with the Elders... and that made me realise how wrong all that is..." Chris tried to sum up everything, while sitting down next to his friend.  
Wyatt looked from one to the other. He couldn't understand why his big hero-brother was still so sad, but it made him sad, too. So he climbed on Chris's lap, leaned his head on his brother's chest and put his thumb into his mouth. Chris sighed, caressing the boys hair.  
"You don't block him out anymore?" Michael asked a little worried about Wyatt's behavior.  
Chris sighed again: "Do you think I should?"  
His friend shrugged: "I don't know...but do you think he can handle your current emotions?"  
Chris nodded and closed his eyes, trying to build a wall around his mind. But it didn't work. Confused he looked at his brother who grinned weakly.  
"Don't wanna be alone," Wyatt said.  
Chris smiled: "But Mike is right brother, I don't want you to suffer just because of me."  
"No," Wyatt said.  
And Chris, knowing that his brother was born to be a telepath, knew that Wyatt was the stronger one in that case... He made the rules, even if he didn't know yet. He sighed and hugged his brother lovingly: "Ok, your decision... but never blame me for a sad childhood when you're older..."  
Wyatt smiled not really understanding the sense of his brothers words. Then he rubbed his eyes and put his thumb back in his mouth.  
"Wait..." Michael said confused, "are you saying that you can't block him out?... That he's more powerful than you????"  
Chris chuckled: "In that case... yes."  
His friend was frowning a moment, trying to understand that. Then he shook his head: "Whatever... That doesn't explain, what your point is... I mean, you have a great life, a wonderful wife and an amazing child, and... a brother who seems to love you with no end. You have a great job at the school and that great gift of being an Elder, which means that you can help people... like you saved us, for example... So I really don't get what could be wrong about that...???"  
Chris sighed again. He could see the truth in Michael's words, but still he felt so much hurt by what Jeremiah had said... and then? What he himself had done to his own apartment...? He had lost control! What if that would happen again? What if he would accidentally hurt someone?  
Then he looked at his brother again. Wyatt was sleepy. He had closed his eyes, his head still resting on Chris's chest.  
"You know," the Elder-witch said then to his friend, "I really love him... I mean... as what he is now for me... as my cute little brother..." Again he sighed. "Some of the Elders think I'm too dangerous. That I could lose control... They are afraid because I already did kill one of them." Chris's eyes turned watery again.  
"But you had to do it," Michael said, "otherwise your brother wouldn't be who he is now..."  
Chris nodded: "Still it hurts..."  
His friend sighed and put his arm around him. "I know," he said, "but still you deserve all this... this life... And if you ask me, those other Elders are just envying you, because you have the chance to grow older... and because you have Hope of course!"  
Chris ginned. Then he nodded: "Mike you're amazing. I'm sorry that I cursed so much trouble between you and Angy."  
"You didn't... If there is someone to blame, than that freaky clown that kidnapped us in the first place... You haven't done anything wrong."  
Chris sighed: "Thanks." Then he turned to his brother: "Hey champ... do you want to sleep at the magic school tonight?"  
Wyatt rose his head a opened slowly his eyes. Then he smiled and nodded.  
"Alright," Chris rose with Wyatt in his arms, and turned to his friend again: "Thanks, to both of you... Have a good night."  
Michael nodded and Chris orbed with Wyatt back to his apartment.

°°°°°°°°°°

When Chris reappeared in his apartment with Wyatt in his arms, he could not help sighing at the remembrance of the disaster he had caused before. Even after his father's and Michael's words, he still felt bad. He was scared of himself, and thought that Jeremiah might be right.  
"Demon?" Wyatt asked looking at him with eyes wide open.  
Chris smiled sadly: "No, buddy... Only anger."  
Wyatt nodded, pretending that he had understood what he meant, and jumped on the sofa where he so much loved to sleep, near his brother... The best of all brothers in the world.  
Piper had been kind of annoyed at the beginning, that Wyatt spent so much time at Chris's sofa instead of his own bed. But the Elder-witch had convinced her that she was still the best mother in the world and that there was nothing to worry about.  
Chris chuckled, and went to get something for the improvised bed. "Don't sleep so quickly, Wyatt, I'll get something to make you more comfortable," he said as he disappeared from his sight. Wyatt kept sitting, looking around him with the curious eyes of every child.  
It did not take a long time for Chris to get the blankets, but when he was back, he had to gasp in surprise. "Wow! What happened here?" he asked, dropping the blankets.  
"Chris didn't like the room, so... made it clean," Wyatt explained, simply, staring at him innocently as he swung his little feet forwards and backwards, bouncing them against the sofa... The room was perfectly cleaned.  
Chris shook his head and took the blankets, smiling. Then he went to his brother, and put them around the boy, who sighed in happiness as he adopted a foetal position in the sofa.  
"What has mom said about personal gain, Wyatt...?" He wanted to tell him off, but it was more like a compliment. Chris was not able, and would never be, of reproaching him anything.  
Wyatt giggled: "Was helping someone... Was not for me."  
Chris kissed him on the forehead: "Ok... Thank you, man. I love you."  
"I love you, Chris," Wyatt repeated, closing his eyes.  
"Sleep well..." Chris said, separating from him and going to the door, to close it a little bit.  
But Wyatt opened his eyes again: "Don't go..."  
"I'll be right here, Wyatt, I'll never leave you alone," He said, smiling. Wyatt smiled and closed his eyes, and Chris finished closing the door, silently.  
But at that moment someone orbed in.  
"Dad... Shhh... Wyatt is sleeping."  
"Daddy!!! Wanna sleep here with Chris and Anca!!!"  
Chris sighed, at the voice of Wyatt. "Ok, too late. Can you tell mom, that..."  
Leo ignored all this conversation, and just looked at him worried: "He can't sleep here, Chris. You neither. We are gonna close the school, and Odin went up there with Silas to tell the Elders that they should hide." Chris narrowed his eyes.  
"But I want to sleep here..." Wyatt said, disappointed.  
"Were Jeremiah and Andrew not helping Odin with the books? And what about Julian, did you get something?"  
Leo sighed: "Jeremiah did not even bother to listen to you, Chris. He just left. And Andrew was helping for a while. Then he also left, he felt it was easier to try to find the two Elders on his own way... And as for Odin, he had the help of the family, so don't worry."  
"But what about Julian?"  
"Daddy... Can I stay, pleeaaaase?"  
"He..." Leo started. "Ok, he wants something in turn. But we can't give him that now, so we thought it was better to protect everything at first, in case Rhashirk comes back."  
"DADDY!!!!!"  
Both men turned to look at Wyatt as the lights of the room turned off and on intermittently; Chris's heart beat strongly; none of them had expected such a show of power by the little child.

* * *

_(Chapter 5 written by Chrissy.W.x and Belén)_


	6. Chapter 6

**A Charmed Story - Part Nine:  
I, Myself And The Elders  
Chapter 6**

After the dinner, they all sat together a little longer. They had moved to the living room, where they could sit more comfortable.  
Cole sat on the armchair, with Phoebe on his lab. Darryl and Sheila sat on the sofa, watching Bianca and Piper taking care of the babies. Kyle and Paige sat on the chairs, face to face to each other, exchanging shy but loving looks.  
They were talking lively about everything... from football to the latest acts at the P3... from diapers to make up... from books to game shows... They just had a wonderful and relaxed time.  
"Oh I see... the glasses are empty," Paige said suddenly and rose, "I'll go to the kitchen, so what do you want?"  
While everyone was giving their orders, Phoebe stood, up too. "I'll help you," she said, and followed her sister to the kitchen.  
Cole sighed when they were gone, and asked: "So Kyle... how are you doing... I mean... now... with all...?" He really didn't know how to say it...  
"I guess," Darryl interrupted him, feeling that this conversation would maybe go the wrong way, "he wanna know how you're doing since you know their secret."  
Kyle grinned, even if he found that question a little weird. But he figured that in their situation he would ask the same. "I think, I'm getting used to it... satisfied?"  
Cole rose his hands in defence: "Hey... don't worry... I just wanted to make sure that everything is fine..."  
Kyle nodded smiling: "It is... don't worry."

°°°°°°°°°°

Meanwhile in the kitchen Paige was opening a bottle of wine, while Phoebe was seeking for more orange juice.  
"Everything's fine between you and Kyle?" the empath asked.  
Paige looked at her a little annoyed: "Yeah... But since when is that your business, sister?"  
"Hey... I just... you're my little sister damned... I just want to know if you're happy... And if you hadn't gave him that blocking potion..."  
Paige grinned making her sister smile. Then Phoebe turned serious again: "What I meant was... something's changed between you too, while you were showing him the manor... THAT's something I realised even without checking on him... And after what you've told me..."  
Paige's eyes were sparkling: "Well.. yeah... He said he loves me."  
Phoebe looked at her surprised, almost shocked, then a smile appeared on her face as she went over to her sister and hugged her excited: "Uhhhhh, that's so sweeeeeeet..."  
"Yeah, yeah... Mrs Romantic..." the witch-whitelighter answered teasing her.  
"And you?" Phoebe asked. Paige just grinned, that was enough for her sister to understand, and again she hugged her happily.  
But then Paige turned serious again. "Do you think that we have a chance?" she asked.  
"What do you mean?"  
"I mean, that he's not a witch, nor an Elder or whitelighter... or demon if that counts..."  
Phoebe smiled at her, caressing her cheek: "Honey, he loves you... I don't think that he cares about all that magic in your live, otherwise he wouldn't be here."  
Paige nodded: "I know..."

°°°°°°°°°°

While Leo looked at his son kind of shocked Chris knelt down in front of him: "Hey, little brother, it's ok... calm down..." He caressed the check of the boy who was crying now. Slowly Wyatt calmed down and the light-switching stopped.  
"That's good," Chris said, looking around if everything was alright. Leo sighed relieved.  
"I wanna sleep here!" Wyatt sobbed again.  
His father shook his head to get his mind clear then he went over to them: "Son, that's too dangerous at the moment..."  
"But I wanna sleep here with Chris and Anca and Hope," the boy said stubbornly. Leo sighed again.  
Chris couldn't help grinning. "Ok, brother," he said, "if you want to stay?... Do it... but for me... naaahhh, that's too dangerous for me, I think I'll sleep at the attic of the manor... But if you want to stay here, just do it..."  
Wyatt looked at him with wide opened eyes: "But I wanna sleep by your side!"  
Chris nodded, making a serious face: "I see... That's a huge problem..."  
Leo chuckled inwardly. His oldest son was amazing. He seems to know what to do from deep down inside, it seems the most natural thing to him... Hope was really lucky to have such a father.  
Then he turned to his boy: "I have an idea... Wyatt, why don't you sleep in the attic, too?"  
"Can I?" the blonde boy asked, his blue eyes sparkling.  
"Of course you can, brother," Chris said, and Leo nodded. Wyatt smiled, put his little arms around the Elder-witch and whispered: "Thanks... best brother in the world."

°°°°°°°°°°

"Thanks again for the wonderful dinner," Sheila said, as she put her cardigan on.  
"Yeah, it was delicious," Darryl agreed.  
They were all standing in the hall now. It was already late and for Darryl it was time to leave. He had to get up early the next day.  
"It was a pleasure to have you here," Piper said, "we have to repeat that very soon." Everyone agreed.  
Then also Kyle put on his jacket. "You leave, too?" Paige asked surprised. She had hoped he would stay a little longer so that they could go on from the point they had stopped at, earlier that evening.  
He nodded a little embarrassed: "Yeah, I'm sorry, but I have to get up early too..."  
Paige sighed, but then nodded: "Ok... but you call me tomorrow?"  
Kyle smiled: "Of course..."  
At that moment bluish orbing lights filled the hall, startling Kyle and also Sheila a little. "Wow..." both exclaimed quietly.  
"Odin, Silas... what do you want?" Piper asked surprised and also a little annoyed.  
Kyle turned to Paige and whispered to her ear: "Are those two these Elders?" She nodded.  
"Well," Odin hesitated, looking at the normal human beings, "we are searching for a place to hide... and..."  
"We want to ask if we could stay here tonight..." Silas explained. "So... can we?"  
Piper looked from on to the other, and then at her sisters. "Whatever," she said, "first we should take care of our guests, then of you... so, just excuse us a little." With that she turned back to Sheila, Darryl and Kyle. But before she could say a proper goodbye, again someone orbed in... this time Leo and his sons.  
"Hey family," Chris said holding a sleepy Wyatt in his arms, "can we spend the night in the attic?"

°°°°°°°°°°

Tom had been left alone. Well, not exactly alone, but technically, since the Elders would not respond to his calls. He had had the opportunity to breathe relieved when Rhashirk left.  
Tom had thought that he was going to stay and do those terrible things to him, too. And he was not sure that he would be able to bear them, since he could barely stand the thought that Steve had. He bent his trembling legs, trying to adopt a more comfortable position, but his hands were hanging from the chains on the wall, and that was starting to cause him cramps. It was cold there. Cold and damp... as he remembered from Steve's memories. The only thought that he was in that place made him shiver.  
He had tried to shimmer away with no results. Of course... those Elders were also there, and had not orbed away, so it was evident that they could not do it. And he, Tom, knew where they were now, in that dark dimension... But who else knew? Hopefully Veronica had paid enough attention and would be able to get him back... Suddenly another thought hit him: What if she got caught too?  
Tom felt like crying, suddenly. He had never been so scared. Never, at least, since that first time in the school, when he was lost in the corridors with adult Wyatt and the rest of the family, and the eldest of the brothers had taken care of him.  
Tom tried once again to get loose, but the only thing he got were scratches in his wrists. He turned to look at the Elders. They seemed to be breathing... Or was it just an illusion? Their bodies were moving rhythmically. Not as much as they should, but they were.  
Rhashirk had told him that they were badly wounded, and that his fate was the same, as soon as he needed more powers. He also said that he'd be back to make him talk. He wanted to know why he had come, how he had found him, and everything.  
Tom had asked some questions too, like what he wanted from the Elders and all. But he had just laughed. And laughed so evilly that he would have made the whole world shake.  
He finally leaned his head on the wall, and sighed, trying to encompass his breathing and stop the irregular beats of his heart. He closed his eyes... Should he try to contact Steve? Would he be able to do it? No way...  
"Are you ok?"  
He opened his eyes widely, his heart beating faster than before. When he turned his face, he saw one of the Elders, who seemed to have woken up, and who looked like in a really bad shape.  
"Did he hurt you, poor boy?" she asked, sadly.

°°°°°°°°°°

Paige and Kyle waved their hands to goodbye, when Darryl's car disappeared in the distance. Then the witch sighed and turned to the man. "Time to leave now," Kyle said.  
She nodded sadly. "Well actually I planed to bring you home, but I guess..." she pointed at the door in her back, "they need me." Now it was him who nodded.  
They looked at each other, looked deep into each others eyes. Paige felt that she was blushing. She had thousands of little butterflies flying around in her stomach. It was amazing. And that moment she realised that she had never felt like that before... not that strong, not that intense.  
Kyle smiled shyly when he saw how her cheeks turned red. Then he softly pressed his lips on hers and kissed her lovingly.  
Paige pulled him closer and kissed him back. It was just amazing.  
When they finally separated Kyle looked at her serious: "Promise me to be careful, alright?"  
Paige could hear the worries in his voice and she thought it was cute, that he cared so much. "I do," she said and smiled. Then she added: "You too... I mean... your job is also kind of risky..."  
He smiled back at her. "I do..." he said before he kissed her again shortly. Then he left.  
He went down the street to the next cable car line. But on his way he turned around countless times to wave to Paige, who was still standing on the stairs, watching him leave. Then he disappeared from her view and she turned around to go back to join the others, ready to face the bad guys again.

°°°°°°°°°°

Veronica was really nervous and ashamed. She did not want at all to worry Steve, but she had not been careful enough and he had ended up knowing. They were all three at Tom's house at that very moment, and Nicki could not help looking at her boyfriend who seemed to be very pale. She had insisted all the time on him staying back, but he was determined to help Tom, even though he was scared to death. Somehow he felt that this was helping him, actually.  
"Maybe we're worrying about nothing," Veronica said. "Maybe he's ok, and that is exactly what he wanted to do. But I kinda freaked out when I saw him disappearing that way, you know..."  
Nicki squeezed her hand trying to comfort her: "Honey, we're gonna find him..."  
"I promise he'll be back, Veronica," Steve added.  
The two girls looked at him, worried: "What are we gonna do? We cannot go..."  
"To that dark world he was talking about? Where I was supposed to be all that time? If they took me, and if he went, we can go, too," Steve answered.  
Nicki shook her head: "Not the way he did. That was a suicide, and we don't know what is going on now. I won't let you go."  
Steve was going to answer, but Veronica interrupted, shyly, too shyly for her normal behavior: "What if we ask the Charmed Ones?"

°°°°°°°°°°

Jeremiah was walking around through the halls of the main-complex in the upper world... alone. Most of the others Elders were gone after Odin's speech. "We have to hide," he had said. "We can't be sure that this place is safe!" he had said...  
'Me and hiding...' Jeremiah thought. 'Who does Odin think he his? No one can give me orders...' He shook his head. "A demon entering here? That's impossible," he said to himself and his voice was reflected by the cold walls.  
He went down the long hallway to his private rooms. Everything around him was calm... Not that it had been ever loud up there, but still you could notice the others around you... but not today.  
He shook his head again, when he passed the open door to the empty conference room. 'Nonsense' he thought and then led his thoughts into another direction.  
He frowned: "What are we doing with that problem..." He sighed. 'He's Leo's son,' he thought, 'that makes things not easier... He will try to stop us, if we take Chris's powers back.' Again he sighed. 'But that's the only thing we can do... we have to stop this, before he loses control.'  
Suddenly he heard a cracking behind him. Startled he turned around. But there was nothing to see. "Nonsense," he said and went on.  
'I need to convince nine more Elders that this is the best thing,' he went on thinking about Chris, 'then we could do it on our own, without even telling them.' He sighed again. 'Whatever... we need to do it fast... before it's too late...'  
Again there was a noise in his back, making him turn around again. "Hello?" he asked to the emptiness of the hallway. "Is anybody there?"  
There was no response. "Nonsense," he said a little angry now and went on to his rooms. Still he began to feel a little uncomfortable. But no, he was an Elder and he was in his place, so there was nothing to worry about... nothing except Chris, maybe.  
He made some more steps, but then he felt a kind of wind in his back. Just weak but still it was there...  
He shivered and quickened his pace. He felt that something was wrong. But instead of just orbing away, he kept on walking to his room.  
He was only fifteen yards away from his destination when he heard another noise.  
Again he turned around. And there he was at the end of the hallway... A man, looking nearly like a human, but still he wasn't... he was a demon. Jeremiah knew he was, he could feel it.  
The demon smirked: "Do you really think you can escape?"  
Jeremiah felt the panic rising. He started running to his room still looking at the demon. He stumbled, but didn't fell. He kept running, watching the demon who didn't move at all.  
But when he turned his head to his way in front of him, he directly saw into the demons yellow eyes. He stood in front of him and smirked.  
"See... Told ya... No-one-escapes-Rhashirk!" he said and began to laugh evilly.  
Jeremiah couldn't stop. Paralysed he kept walking right into the demon's arms. He wanted to yell, he wanted to orb. But it was too late.  
Rhashirk grabbed him and put his hand on the Elders forehead who instantly lost conscious.

°°°°°°°°°°

Andrew had been sitting in the library of the Elders for a long time, reading and re-reading all he could find about that demon Chris was talking about. But there were only less information.  
It seemed that Rhashirk was banished by the Source hundreds of years ago. And since then, no one had paid attention to his person. So most of the information that maybe had exist once, where lost with the time.  
But then he found a hint, well... he even wasn't sure if it was a hint... About one hundred years ago, it seemed there was a demon seen in the Golden Gate Park. He was there, and the next second he was gone. 'The description would fit to what Chris said,' Andrew thought. 'And didn't they had that fight at the park, too?' He closed the book with a thud and orbed down to the world of the humans.  
He hadn't been down there for a while, so he felt a little uncomfortable, even if he was invisible for the humans.  
He had orbed to the park looking for any clue, but everything seemed to be as usual. Nothing that could be connected with a demon.  
He went around there for a few hours, without noticing that the day had passed and the night had broken in.  
Still he walked around, when suddenly he felt a presence. The presence of an Elder. Confused he looked around and hid instinctively behind a tree. The next second he saw bluish orbing lights appearing in the middle of the grass. No one of the people around seemed to notice that.  
Then his blood froze when he saw who materialised just a few yards away from him. A demon... and the unconscious Jeremiah.  
He saw them just a second, then they vanished without a warning. There was nothing left than grass and air.

°°°°°°°°°°

"Ok... so now that the 'innocents' are safe at home, the Elders are snoring in the attic, and the children sleeping next to them... What do we do?" Piper asked in a whisper, looking at the others. It had been pretty hard to convince Wyatt that he should go to sleep without Chris; that his 'best brother in the world' would come later, but they had finally achieved their purpose. With a condition, of course... Bianca should stay with them.  
Now they were all sitting or standing in the kitchen while some of them took some coffee and analysed the situation.  
Chris lowered his eyes at Piper's question. He had been so worried about the painful words of Jeremiah that he had not thought about any plan at all.  
None of them knew what they should do. None of them knew how to get to Rhashirk, if it was not through Julian, but Julian had demanded that power of sensing, and they could not give it to him under any condition.  
At that moment the phone rang, so Paige left the kitchen and picked it up.  
"Well... It seems that the books they found did not say much. So the only thing I can think about is... trying to use some spell to find him?" Leo suggested.  
Phoebe shook her head: "We tried that before. Remember that none of us could find Angela..."  
Cole opened the mouth to say something, when suddenly blue orbs filled the room... It was Andrew, and his countenance was completely contorted in fear.  
"Jeremiah... The demon... He has kidnapped him... I saw him." Chris and Leo looked at each other and frowned.  
"Someone gets the Elder, he's fainting!" Phoebe exclaimed, hiding her eyes with her hands. Cole rushed and caught him. Then, Leo and Chris helped to take him to the lounge and lie him on the sofa.  
Paige was just hanging up: "Just in time, guys." At that moment she saw the Elder. "What has happened?" she asked.  
Cole was feeling his pulse: "His heart is about to burst..."  
Leo got nearer and touched his wrist: "He suffered a big shock, but he just fainted. He'll be ok... And he's an Elder, don't worry, he can't die." He smiled.  
Chris was behind his father, looking at Andrew worriedly.  
Piper had gone to the kitchen again to get some water for the poor man. "Here you are..." she said, handing it to Leo. While they were trying to bring him round, Paige shook her head and sighed.  
"Guys... I am sorry, but there is no time. Veronica phoned, and told me that they're looking for Tom. He disappeared when he was trying to find Rhashirk... Does that ring any bell?" All the heads turned to look at her, in shock.  
"Why was he looking for him?" Chris asked, totally surprised.  
His aunt shrugged: "Because he thinks he was the one who kidnapped Steve too... And it seems he found the entrance to this other dimension where, it seems, he was imprisoned by the source of all evil. It is..."  
"In the Golden Gate Park," a very feeble Andrew concluded who had just come round.  
"What?" Phoebe asked, furrowing her eyebrows. "How do you know that?"  
Andrew shook his head, overwhelmed. "I saw that someone was taking Jeremiah who was unconscious, and he just disappeared there. I guess this was Rhashirk." he said, between sip and sip.  
"Where was it exactly?" Chris asked, feeling his own heart jump.  
"In the very same place where we fought him," Paige answered instead.

°°°°°°°°°°

Bianca had fallen asleep in the attic, with little Wyatt hugging her body tightly. She had watched the babies until they had fallen asleep too, and then, she was so tired that she had to close her own eyes. The attic was always such a quiet place that she could not help falling asleep.  
But suddenly she felt a chill, and a kind of fresh air. Frozen air, she would say... She opened her eyes and when she saw the dark figure standing in front of her, she had to hold back a cry. She placed herself protectively in front of the little babies and Wyatt. "Get out of here," she said threateningly, fearing that it was Rhashirk.  
The man just came nearer and looked at her coldly with his grey expressionless eyes. "I'm not here to take them with me," he said, simply.  
Bianca shivered, even if she did not really know what he meant by that. It was so cold up there... "What do you want?" she asked, wondering why she was not calling for help.  
"Answer your questions," he was still staring at her so coldly.  
"Do I know you?" she asked.  
The figure nodded slowly: "You do."  
"From what?" she could not remember, even if he was familiar.  
"From another life." Bianca turned her eyes to look at the kids slightly. "I told you I am not here for them. It's not their hour yet."  
Bianca opened her eyes widely and gasped: "What? Who are you?"  
"The angel of Death," was the simple answer.  
Bianca went completely mute. She knew him... From another life... She could not remember because she had never made that spell on her, to see her other lives, but... "We met when I died? I mean, in the other future..."The angel nodded, and she went on, trembling: "Are you here because that is my destiny? To die now?"  
The angel shook his head this time: "I told you, I just came to bring answers."  
"What kind of answers?" the woman asked, feeling terribly uncomfortable.  
"Why you were given this gift of life. Who gave you this gift of life."  
Bianca swallowed and went paler. She was not sure anymore whether she wanted to know, but the angel continued.  
"You were on my list in your future. Both of you. Do you think your timeline disappeared? Your timelines... All of them, are still there. What once existed can not be erased, or my job would be impossible. When you saved this future, or better said... When you created this new future, your destiny was going back. Once there, your now beloved Wyatt would have taken you two and killed you with no mercy. You two were on my list." Bianca opened her mouth, turning paler and paler, but had no opportunity to speak, as he went on: "That future did not need you anymore. This new future, once you were gone, had no future either. Your two little versions were on my list too, at a very early age, as well as the whole family."  
"W-w-w...why?" she stuttered, stepping backwards instinctively.  
"Because that was your fate, the Halliwell's fate and the world's fate," he answered as coldly as always.  
Bianca frowned, and played with her hands nervously: "If...If that was the fate, why change it?"  
"Because no one before had made so many efforts to change it, and I thought I would give you the chance of living in this new world you had created, and see if fate can actually be changed or if you could not avoid it."  
Bianca did not understand a word. Was the angel of Death saying that for the first time, he had been partial? He had a heart after all? Even if it was only moved by curiosity...  
"You are wrong, woman. It was not love, or curiosity, or any human feeling you can think about. It was only the deep desire of keeping the balance stable. Without you here, this timeline, as well as the others, were destined to fall into the evil's hands. If all the timelines fall into the evil's hands, there's no hope anymore, no good side, no balance. Death is supported by this balance. There's no good without evil, there's no death without life. And there was no life in a world dominated by the evil side. It was doomed to destruction and ruin. And with that, I myself would have disappeared. I knew that, so I decided to make you stay here, get stuck in this world, and maybe safe me too."  
Bianca was wordless. She did not know what to say... Was the angel of death behind all that?  
She wanted to say something but the dark figure shook his head.  
"Here you got your answers," he said and disappeared.  
Bianca felt the cold air again, and the attic spun around until she fell on the floor.  
Suddenly she woke up and looked around, her heart beating strongly. As soon as she came back to reality, she sat on the mattress and looked around. There was no one there... No one at all. It had been a dream... She swallowed, since she somehow knew it had been real. But she would not tell Chris about it...  
Bianca sighed and looked around again, but there was no one there except her, the kids and the Elders. She shook her head and then laid back down, hugging the cute blonde boy next to her.  
But the next moment she jumped up startled again. Baby Chris was crying. The Phoenix went over to him and took him to her arms. She rocked him softly and whispered comforting words to his ear. But still he was crying.  
It was a wonder that the Elders were still sleeping, but Wyatt was awake and Hope also started tossing around in her bed.  
"What's wrong honey?" Bianca asked the baby a little desperate, even if she knew he couldn't answer.  
"He's scared," Wyatt said sleepy.  
"What?" Bianca asked confused.  
Wyatt was rubbing his eyes: "He's sacred... had a baaaad dream."  
"You know what he dreamt?" she asked still confused and he nodded. "So what did he dream?"  
Wyatt shrugged: "A demon..."  
"A demon?" Bianca asked confused. How should he be able to dream about demons at this age... he never really met one until now! Well... except the day he was born...  
But when the blonde boy nodded again, her brain started to work and she remembered some past dialogues...  
_Piper: "I saw Chris, down in a cave... He hurts him because he wants Chris and my baby..."  
Leo: "Relax honey, you're stressing the little boy inside you..."  
_And also...  
_Cole: "I'm a witch... when I was in the field... "  
Herself: "... they said the filed isn't working anymore..."  
Chris: "... was a little magic left... mini-me has that power too..."  
Phoebe: "Yeah, they have the same power like me, isn't that great..."  
Christopher: "... well, kind of..."  
_"Oh my God," she muttered, when she realised what was going on, what had happened to that three-month-old-boy. "He had a premonition," she said to herself. Then she turned to Wyatt who was still sitting on the mattress: "Where has he seen that demon?"  
"Here," the boy answered looking at her with his big blue eyes and wondering why she was looking so scared suddenly.  
Bianca didn't lose time, she had to react quickly. "Come over here, Wyatt," she ordered.  
Wyatt didn't understand what was going on, but obeyed, while the woman pulled Hope out of her bed too. Then she knelt down to hug the three kids tightly and shimmered with them away.  
The next moment bluish lights filled the attic. But it wasn't an Elder or whitelighter... it was Rhashirk. The demon took a short look around and then went over to the still sleeping Elders. He touched Odin's and Silas's foreheads for a short moment, to make sure that they wouldn't wake up. Then he orbed with them away.

* * *

_(Chapter 6 written by Chrissy.W.x and Belén)_


	7. Chapter 7

**A Charmed Story - Part Nine:  
I, Myself And The Elders  
Chapter 7**

Down there in the living room they were still discussing all the new information.  
"And you saw him orb?" Piper asked confused. "You're sure he didn't shimmer?"  
"Yeah, I am sure..." Andrew replied tiredly.  
"That would fit," Leo remarked, "in one of the books it was said, that he can borrow powers, and he has two... or better now three Elders in his grip."  
"But... That's so..." Veronica said.  
Paige had picked up her and her friends, just a few minutes ago. Chris hadn't been very happy that Steve was with the girls when they arrived. But he couldn't tell him to stay in the back now, when he always told him that he had to overcome his fears.  
"Yeah, I know..." Cole added. I can imagine why the old source banished him how-many-centuries-ever ago..."  
"And when he has those Elders now... how shall we stop him?" Phoebe asked worried.  
"WAIT!" Chris suddenly jumped up, making everybody looking at him confused and worried. Chris looked around and then said: "Wyatt, he's worried, he... he isn't at the attic anymore." With panic written on his face he turned into a swirl of bluish orblights.  
"WHAT?" Piper exclaimed, feeling her husbands hand on her shoulder.  
The next moment they all materialised in the attic. But there was no one there... they were all gone.  
"Oh my God..." Phoebe muttered.  
"Where are they...?" Cole asked.  
Piper walked around kind of shocked: "Don't tell me that this demon entered my house and kidnapped my babies..."  
Leo sighed, trying to sense them, while Chris went over to his mother to hug her with shivering arms. "Oh my God..." he muttered. He was too freaked out to sense for them on his own, it just didn't come to his mind. The fact that his daughter was gone, too, was killing him inside. He had never thought he could feel like that, so desperate, so helpless, so angry at the same time.  
"The kids and Bianca are fine," Leo said, making the other turn around to him. "They are at Victor's apartment," he added then.  
"I'll get them," Chris replied and orbed away the next second.  
Leo turned to his wife and kissed her lovingly: "They are alright... I can sense them... and Chris will bring them home I guess."  
Piper nodded, still her eyes were welling up with tears. She hugged him closely while the others watched the couple in silence.  
Then Cole rose to speak: "And where are Silas and Odin?"

°°°°°°°°°°

Victor was sitting on his sofa, half watching TV - half sleeping, when Bianca and the kids shimmered in next to the door on his left. First he didn't notice, but the desperate crying of baby-Chris made him jump up startled.  
"WHAT THE HELL..." he exclaimed. He felt like his heart would skip a few beats and sank back to the sofa again, looking really pale.  
"GRANDPA!!!" Wyatt yelled and ran over to him to hug him tightly with his short arms.  
"Sorry, for startling you," Bianca apologised, "but I had to react quickly to bring the kids to a safe place, and..." She made a gesture to the room and went on: "... this was the first place that came to my mind." Victor just nodded, unable to answer.  
"Christopher was dreamin'bout demons," Wyatt said to him, smiling at him. Victor again just nodded, while the color slowly turned back to his face.  
"I'm truly sorry... But I guess, he not only dreamt... I guess he had a premonition, that's why we ran away," Bianca tried to explain.  
Victor looked at her, while the woman put the babies on the armchair - baby-Chris had finally stopped crying - and covered them with an old blanket, which she found there. "Wait... you mean the baby had a... a premonition?????"  
Bianca nodded with a sigh and sat down next to him. "He was crying... and Wyatt said he dreamt about a demon in the attic... I don't know if it was a premonition... but I didn't want to take a risk..." she said, before reaching for the phone to call the others.  
"Well but..." Victor said but was interrupted by bluish orbing lights.  
"Bianca? What are you doing here?" Chris asked, his voice a little angry, but more because of the fear of losing her, his kids, or even Victor, than because of real anger. Then he looked at Victor. "Hey grandpa... are you ok?"  
The grey-haird man nodded, while Wyatt jumped up, to ran to his big brother and hug his leg. Chris caressed the boys hair. Then he turned around to Hope and took her to his arms, holding her tightly, relieved that she was fine. He had been so scared that something could have happened to her.  
Turning back to Bianca he asked: "Didn't I told you not to shimmer in here without warning? You could gave him a heart attack."  
Bianca chuckled: "Don't you think you are a little overreacting?" And Victor nodded in agreement.  
Chris sighed. He never had told anyone what he had found out about his grandfather's future. And he really didn't plan to do it now. So he decided to change the topic: "So... why are you here? And where are Silas and Odin?"  
"They are gone?" Bianca asked pale. And when Chris nodded she add: "Oh my God... Then it's true..."

°°°°°°°°°°

Tom was feeling really scared. More and more as the time passed and nothing happened.  
The Elder that had asked him how he felt, was also chained. He had not noticed before, because she hid her chains with her robe, but when he thought that she would go and release him, or comfort him, he realised that she could not move either.  
Therefore he had tried to reassure the poor women by telling that everything was gonna be ok, but he wasn't sure of that anymore.  
A few minutes after that, Rhashirk came back and poured some sort of poison in the mouth of the Elder that had talked to him, making her feel very dizzy and agonising.  
"I'm sorry, sister, I need your powers. It's too bad that I can not enjoy the benefit of orbing as you do..." he had said sarcastically as the woman writhed in pain on the ground. Then he had left again.  
After he had disappeared, Tom started to call the Elders again, trying to attract their attention, to make them look at him, but the one that had talked to him, had finally lost her consciousness again, and the other one was so pale and sick that would not awake.  
Tom could not help moaning a little bit at the thought of what could happen to him. He swallowed and closed his eyes. He had to do it... He had to establish contact with Steve.  
Suddenly, bright blue orbs and the familiar sound made him open his eyes widely.  
"Chris?" he asked, trembling. But it was not Chris. It was Rhashirk... bringing another Elder with him.  
"Oh my God..." he muttered.  
"I don't think that God likes that you call me like that," Rhashirk mocked, placing Jeremiah on the ground and chaining him to the nearest wall.  
Tom fixed his eyes on the poor man, and then glared at Rhashirk. "Do you bastard plan to empty the Elder's place?" he asked angrily and scared at the same time.  
Rhashirk smirked: "Basically..." Then he turned: "Be ready, my boy. I'll be back just for you in a few minutes." Then he left again, and appeared in the attic of the manor, where he kidnapped Odin and Silas.  
Tom felt how the tears started to run down his face. Why had he been so stupid? Veronica was right; he should not have done that on his own. It was a suicide. Now he knew that very well... He had just wanted to help Steve, but... He closed his eyes again, trying to regain control over his mind and not to panic, so that he was able to communicate with his friend: 'Sorry Steve... I didn't want to do this, but I need your help...'  
Rhashirk was back soon and made him come to reality. Tom did not know if it had worked, and he did not know either if he'd have another chance to try.  
The demon carried out the same process with his new two victims and turned to Tom, smirking.  
"Now... let's find out what a little brat like you was doing here; trying to play with magic is like playing with fire, son. You can get burnt."

°°°°°°°°°°

Michael was lying in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He was worried. He had never seen Chris like that... so desperate, so mad... so hurt... he had never seen him like that as long as he knew him.  
He sighed realising that it was less than a year since they first met, since he had freed them, since he had saved them.  
Michael closed his eyes for a moment. Then he turned around to watch his wife, who was sleeping on his right. He felt so much sorry for her, but still he wished she would be more open-minded. He wished she would open her eyes to all the things Chris and his family were doing for all the whole mankind. But she only saw the weird things that could happen to her, and she saw the demons... All that scared her too much to see that those witches were risking their lives for innocents every single day.  
While Michael thought about all that, he noticed that Angela's sleep became more and more uneasy. She started tossing around and mumbling something he couldn't understand. Then she began to yell and sat up.  
"Shhhhh..." he hugged her from behind. Angela was shivering, she was crying. "It's ok, baby... you're safe... everything is fine," he whispered to her ear to make her calm down.  
She turned around and buried her face in his chest, crying. Softly he caressed her back. He loved her so much and it killed him from the inside that he couldn't help her.  
The woman was crying for a while but finally she calmed down. A few minutes later she looked up to him frowning. "Did I wake you up?" she asked feeling guilty.  
"No, I wasn't sleeping," he replied.  
Angela rose to be face to face with him. "Why?" she asked. But before he could answer she pointed at his forehead: "I see... you worry about something... You have that little 'worry-wrinkle' between your eyebrows..."  
Michael sighed. He didn't want to bother her with his thoughts, so he kept silent.  
She looked at him, then asked: "It's about Chris, right? I noticed that something was wrong when you came back from your 'saying goodbye'... So what is it, that he told you and that worries you so much?" Michael sighed again, avoiding her look.  
"Mike... please..." she begged.  
He closed his eyes, then answered whispering: "He has troubles with some Elders, because of something he had done a while ago... and that hurts him... Actually it hurts him a lot and I'm not sure if he can handle that..."

°°°°°°°°°°

Everyone looked up, when Chris orbed back to the living room of the manor.  
Piper jumped up, when she saw he was alone. "Where are they?" she asked worried.  
"Don't worry mom, they are fine..." he said and let himself sank down on the sofa. He looked really exhausted, frustrated and somehow defeated, when he added: "I think it's better for them to stay there... it's not safe here... if all what we know it's true, it seems no one can stop that demon... So I hope he will not find the kids there..."  
Leo sighed and went over to his son. He sat down beside him and put his arm around him. He could only imagine how he felt, after all that had happened today... And now he also had to worry about his baby-girl's safety. And that alone - he knew from his own experiences - was a lot to deal with.  
"But it seems Rhashirk has Odin and Silas," Chris said then. "It seems mini-me had a premonition. That's why Bianca and the kids escaped."  
"He had WHAT???" Piper exclaimed.  
"So... what are we gonna do now?" Cole asked ignoring his sister in law.  
Chris shrugged even if his uncle hadn't addressed him exactly. "I don't know," he admitted, feeling more helpless than ever before.  
"What can we do?" Nicki asked. "I mean, if he has the powers of all those Elders... how can we defeat him?"  
Steve began to shiver a little, and Nicki regretted that she had talked like that. She took his hand and caressed it. Her boyfriend freaking out again, was the last thing they needed.  
Everyone tried to look at something, just to avoid the looks of the others. Because... No one had any idea what to do.  
Suddenly the air was waving in the middle of the room, making everyone jump up startled. "Hey..." Julian said, even before he completely materialised, "just thought I have a look what's going on here..." He looked around with a smile and went on: "I was a little worried that you could already be dead, because you missed our meeting..."  
Chris looked at him, and then at his father, who opened his mouth but closed it again, not knowing what to say.  
Julian frowned. "Is everything ok?" he asked.  
Leo shook his head as the others looked at him expectantly. If he had come to help, great, but what was he waiting for? "Listen... Julian. I can't give you those powers, that's not in my hands. And right now the world is in the middle of a really big problem that might concern you too, man... So..."  
Julian raised his hands defensively: "Wait, wait... Look at me. I am not a monster, nor a demon. I am a witch like you... And I have always helped you. I just wanted those powers to make life easier for me, but I guess this is bigger than I thought."  
Chris looked him in the eyes, timidly: "Does that mean that you... that you're gonna help us?"  
Julian shrugged: "I always did. I'm not gonna let you down now."  
"And you don't want those powers anymore..." Leo said, before the interested look of the rest in the house.  
Julian shrugged. "We can discuss that later, we've other things to deal with now... Because if we lose this battle there will be no use for that power anyway." he said.  
"Ok, so what do you have?" Cole asked, encouraging him to speak.  
"Yeah, hurry, or we'll lose the few goodies left up there."  
Julian frowned at Paige's words, but said: "Ok... we don't have much, but we know how to get there, to where your demon is right now."  
"How can you know that?" Piper asked, approaching him suspecting.  
Julian sighed: "The old source of all evil sent him there. I found some of his old papers and from that I know how he did it, but you do not need that information to get there." He smirked, as the others grimaced disgusted and Chris half-smiled. "I can send you there as he sent him. And I can bring you back."  
"And how do we know you will bring us back?" Phoebe asked, narrowing her eyes. She knew who had his hands on that... And that red thing called Belthazor was still who she hated the most, even if he, for some truly weird reason, was helping.  
Julian smiled at her: "You'll need to trust me. But it's up to you."  
"Ok, I'll go," Chris said, cutting the others out. "There's no time to lose."  
"Why am I not surprised?" Phoebe murmured, rolling her eyes. Of course, who else but her nephew with hero-complex would offer himself to go to that unknown dimension, with the only trust of a demon? She sighed, as Piper opened her eyes widely and tried to convince him not to go. But Chris was determined.  
"And I'll go with you," Steve said after a while.  
Nicki more than anyone else freaked out: "What? No way... I can't believe you wanna go..." Steve turned to her angrily, and the couple started to argue.  
Julian cut them all off: "I need to go now, and I need to take those who want to come with me, but before there's something else you should know..." Everyone stopped talking, and he went on: "Have you ever heard of the Fallen Angel?"  
Cole looked at the others, frowning, and then said: "The devil? You mean... Satan? We had already something related to him some time ago..."  
Julian chuckled: "When I say fallen angel, I do mean it... It's an angel that fell. Rhashirk..." He paused, creating expectation and suspense. Then he concluded: "Rhashirk was an Elder before becoming a demon."  
"WHAT?" Leo, Chris and Andrew exclaimed at the same time. Julian just nodded. "But how came they don't know him?" Chris asked close to freaking out. Leo just shrugged.  
But Julian grinned: "Because they are more human than it seems... Rhashirk became who he was, about a millennium ago... And the memories of the Elders got blurry with the time like those of every other human being... They just forgot..."  
"That's sooo weird, but it explains how he could went up there without being noticed by someone..." Leo remarked and his son nodded.  
"Ok, could you explain to me what you're talking about??? Because this time, I really think I missed something..." Julian snapped kind of annoyed.  
Chris sighed and then wanted to answer. But he was interrupted by Steve.  
"Wait!" the young witch exclaimed suddenly and jumped up. "Did you hear that?"  
"What?" Nicki asked worried. Also the others looked at him questioning.  
Steve shook his head frowning. "I don't know," he said hesitating, "It was as if Tom was crying for help..."  
"You mean...?" Chris wanted to ask, but didn't need to end his sentence. His young friend looked at him scared and freaked out, but nodded.  
"Ok," Cole said and rose. "I think we all should just take a step backwards, because I got the feeling that we're running into our own death if we rush into action without any planings..."  
"But we need to do something?" Piper said. "Only God knows how much Elders he has captured until now..."  
"Elders?" Julian asked surprised. "All he wants to do at the moment, is erase your family..."  
"WHAT?" the sisters exclaimed as one, while the others looked at the colored witch shocked. "Why do you think that?" Paige asked.  
"That's non of your business... but believe me, it's true..."  
"Ok... Stop it!" Cole rose his voice to make the others listen to him. "I really think we should do that one step after the other... First we need a plan... Then we can go and kick the ass of that bastard... And by they way... I'm also going."  
"NO!" Phoebe said but he stopped her with a look that told her that he would go, with or without her permission.  
Chris nodded: "Well, I guess he's right... Not, about the last part, but... we really need a plan." Julian and Leo nodded too.  
"Yeah," Steve said, "but what if Tom hasn't that much time...?"  
Veronica looked at Steve with her eyes round open. She had always been the coolest girl in the world, the happy girl for whom everything was fine, and everything had a solution. But now that her beloved ones were in danger, all that had changed and she was scared to death. Nicki, pressed her arm softly, worried herself by the idea that Steve was so determined to go.  
Chris swallowed, trying to think hard. He could not just go that way, without a plan. Rhashirk had proved to be a really tough demon, and now they knew that he had been an Elder... That was really scary. But if they wouldn't do something, Steve was completely right. It could mean death for Tom. What should he do?  
The others were talking and talking, in search for a good plan, but Andrew had been silent for a while, deep in his own thoughts.  
Finally, Chris took Steve's hand: "Ok, we go now. You all, get a plan, and get it soon." And after saying that, grabbed Julian's arm with the other hand and orbed away.  
"No, w-w-wa...it..." It was too late. Piper swore in a mutter, and then looked at the others who were now silent and indecisive.  
Nicki had gone paler when she saw that Steve was going with Chris, but she did not dare to say anything, since it was to save Tom, and Veronica had the right to be more worried than her at that moment. Moreover, Tom had not hesitated when he went to find Rhashirk, and he had done it just for his friend...  
Cole was tense. He really missed the action. He wished Chris had also grabbed his hand because he needed to help him. Man, he could not let him go alone! He felt Phoebe's touch, trying to calm him down and saw Paige's and Leo's expressions.  
"Ok. The plan is urgent. Any idea?" Paige asked, nervously.  
"I... I might help," Andrew said. All the heads turned to him, who lowered his eyes timidly: "I am an Elder, he wanted me too. I just escaped... I might be the bait."  
"No," Leo said, "and by the way... I'm an Elder, too... So if we do that, I'm going to do that!"  
"No you can't," Nicki said, still scared but suddenly beginning to understand, "even I don't trust that... whatever he is... Chris trusts Julian... and he said that Rhashirk is after your family... So if you go Leo, you give him what he wants..."  
"But we have to do something," Paige said. The fact that Chris and Steve ran away like that, was annoying her, like everyone else in the room.

°°°°°°°°°°

"Tom... Tom..." the young witch heard a familiar voice, while he slowly gained back his conscious. He felt confused and his brain hurt from the sudden pain he had felt... That's the last thing he remembered... the pain... a pain he knew so well... 'Oh my God,' he thought and sat up startled. ‚What if he did the same to me? If he manipulated me?' He looked into Odin's eyes.  
The Elder had tried to wake him up the last minutes. He was chained next to him, but still had enough room to touch him. "Are you alright?" he asked, now that the young witch had opened his eyes.  
Tom looked confused around. He was still chained to the wall, his wrist still hurt. Then he looked at the Elder: "Odin?"  
"Hey, welcome back," the Elder said with a smile.  
"What happened?" Tom asked scared remembering his last thought. Desperate he tried again to free himself. "What did that bastard do to me? Did he...?"  
"Shhhh... Calm down," Odin said, holding him tightly by his shoulders. "He did nothing to you," he explained then, "you passed out before he could do something."  
"Sure?" Tom asked with a trembling voice.  
"Sure!" he answered and then added, "and therefore you should calm down. Because... when he returns it's better to make him believe that you're still unconscious, right?"  
Tom nodded. "Do you know where he's gone?" Odin looked around sighing. So did Tom. There were actually more then a dozen of Elders, most of them were unconscious.  
"I guess," the Elder said, "he's trying to get another one of us." Then he turned back to Tom: "But what are you doing here?"  
Tom didn't listen. He had noticed another familiar person and actually he couldn't believe it was really her. "Mrs Moody?" he asked confused. Odin sighed. He had hoped Tom wouldn't notice Elenia, but now it was to late.  
She looked up when she heard those words and smiled at the young man: "Hello Tom."  
"But... what are you doing here... and where have you been the last year?" Tom asked confused. He hadn't seen Steve's mother since she had helped them with the people in grey. Then he noticed her white and golden dress: "Are you an Elder?"  
She nodded: "I am... and I was... Look this story is really..."  
"No... No-no-no!" Tom exclaimed shaking his head. "You just left without any explanation... You left your son with a thousand of unanswered questions... you just disappeared... Damned your son suffered so much lately... He needed his family to support him, he needed you!" Elenia sobbed a little.  
Odin sighed and put his hand on Tom shoulder: "Stop it man... don't judge before you knew the whole story..."  
"It's ok, Odin," she said, "he's right." Then she turned to Tom. "I am an Elder since a few centuries. I... well... 20 years ago I was kidnapped by a demon and..." She swallowed. "I escaped but... well when I found out that I was pregnant I had to decide... and I voted for my baby..."  
Tom's eyes grew wide: "You mean... Steve is the son of an Elder?"  
She nodded and went on: "I wanted to have my baby, but for that I had to leave the Elders, because if they had found out... Well, I made myself fall, I became human... and a few month later I met Steve's stepfather, who became his dad for the rest of his far too short life... I hoped that Steve would only have less powers, because I lost mine when I fall and his biological father was only a mid level demon... But he has... he has more powers than he knows by now."  
"But... why did you left him?"  
"When the double demons rose again, I had to help you... him... but therefore I had to die... The Elders already knew why I left them and they decided to let me rejoin them... So I could watch over him..."  
"Shall that mean Chris and Leo knew that too... That they knew where you had been?" Tom exclaimed.  
"No," Odin said, "they don't know her story... They don't know about Steve's parents... Only less of us do"  
But Tom didn't listen: "And what do you mean with 'watch over him'? He tried to kill himself damned! Where have you been that moment? Where have you been???" Elenia lowered her head, sobbing.  
At the moment they heard steps from the entrance of the cave.  
"Tom," Odin said begging. Tom nodded, closed his eyes and let his head fall to one side, shortly before Rhashirk went in.

°°°°°°°°°°

"Ok, let's go," Chris said, as soon as they materialised in the Underworld.  
The colored witch looked around scared, and then turned to Chris, ignoring the worried look of Steve: "Are you nuts? You never do this again." He took their hands to take them out of sight: "Never orb this way here with me. They can not see us together, understood?"  
Chris nodded, and looked him in the eyes. "Take me to that plane."  
"What about me?" Steve asked, concerned.  
"You stay with Julian." Chris said. Actually he wasn't even sure why he had took Steve with him, it just had felt right that moment. But now he wasn't sure anymore. "You can help from here with your telepathy or whatever. I am not gonna risk you."  
"But..."  
"Take me there."  
"Where?" It was Belthazor's voice. He was right behind him. And he seemed to be really angry.  
Steve jumped behind Chris to duck scared. Not only that they were walking through the underworld like this would be a park... No... Now there was also the source of all evil... the one who had tried to kill him once.  
"Good evening," Chris said casually. Then he felt how Steve grasped his hand, Chris could feel him trembling.  
"Sorry," Julian said stepping at his friend's side, "I guess he's just going crazy..."  
"Yeah," the demon mumbled angry.  
Chris just looked at the demon, waiting for what would happen next. He wasn't afraid of him, but he was aware of the fact that Belthazor was, and ever would be a demon.  
Steve, still hiding behind Chris, looked from on to the other. "It's a trap Chris, we should try to..." he murmured.  
But Chris interrupted him: "Don't worry, he will not hurt us... Right?" The last word was dedicated at the red demon.  
Belthazor smirked. Then he gestured with his hand: "Follow me... but cloak yourself... please..."  
"Will you bring me to that plane?" Chris asked without moving.  
Belthazor turned around to face him. He narrowed his eyes, examining the Elder-witch from head to foot. "No," he said then, "but I'll show you how to do it on your own."  
"But Julian said you wouldn't tell us, you would only...?" Chris snapped back.  
Belthazor smirked again: "Yeah, I was just curious how much you would trust me..."

* * *

_(Chapter 7 written by Chrissy.W.x and Belén)_


	8. Chapter 8

**A Charmed Story - Part Nine:  
I, Myself And The Elders  
Chapter 8**

"Ok..." Paige sighed, after a long pause, feeling really frustrated. They had been discussing about what to do for several minutes since Chris and Steve had left, and they had not found any agreement. The worst was that...  
"Time is still running, guys, and as long as we do not do anything, Rhashirk has the advantage," Phoebe said, supported by Cole's nods of agreement.  
"Definitely, we need to do something. And I personally think that baits are not gonna work this time. This demon is not stupid, people. To begin with, he was an Elder, and he knows all your tricks. And he won't fall on the same trap again. We used Christopher as a bait before, and he will be ready for that, if we try it again now," he said.  
Piper sighed, quite frustrated: "So what do you suggest, Mister? Or do you only have objections?"  
Cole looked back at her, hurt, but said nothing. He understood what that woman had to live through with a son like Chris around. He shook his head.  
Nicki was holding Veronica's hands between hers, as she listened attentively and tried to come up with some idea, but fear was blocking her.  
Leo started to pace around pensively. They were right... It was not a good idea that he himself acted as a bait, but what about Andrew? He could not risk him... And Cole was right too... Baits would not work. He raised his eyes to meet the sisters' and Cole's: "Listen... There's something I don't understand. Julian said that Rhashirk is after our family. But then... why is he kidnapping Elders?"  
Phoebe frowned, thoughtfully too: "Well... Probably he wants both things. He wants to govern the world, I guess. But he knows that finishing with the Elders is not enough, as long as our family lives."  
Andrew shook his head: "No. I think there is something else. I think he has something against your family, more than mere interest. And kidnapping Elders is a good way to attract your attention. And don't forget that he already tried to do so before... This isn't the first time that he tries to kill you!"  
"I agree," Paige said, clasping her hands, "he's not interested in the Elders at all. I guess he does not really mind them. He just wanted to show his strength with this action, and make us fall into action, want it or not. I mean... Kidnapping Elders is not like just kidnapping an innocent... It is something serious, guys."  
"And he wants us to go and save them..." Cole said.  
"And you suggest that we do not move at all!" Piper exclaimed, really angry.  
Cole shook his head again: "I never said that."  
"No, you implied it with your words!"  
Leo went to her, and pressed her shoulder tenderly: "Relax... Everything's gonna be ok, honey." Then he turned to the others: "Ok, what we need to do is bring Chris and Steve back. I don't think it is actually a good idea to let them act on their own. And maybe we should..."  
"Do you think that we could kill him? It's not easy to kill an Elder..." Nicki asked, suddenly. All the faces turned to her, in shock. "I mean..." she went on, feeling Veronica's eyes on her, "If he was an Elder..."  
Cole, sighed, disappointed: "If the source couldn't kill him... If he had to send him to another plane... No one can."

°°°°°°°°°°

"Still unconscious?" Rhashirk asked, appearing more than pissed off. He approached the boy and looked at him intensively.  
Tom held the breath back, wishing that he was really unconscious. He could feel his heart beating so fast, that he thought he would finally pass out. But it did not happen, unfortunately. And he could feel the intense odour coming from the demon's breath. He wanted to cough, then sneeze and also puke, but tried to keep all that under control. However, it must have not worked.  
"He must be very weak... Leave him alone, he's just a boy," Odin said, staring at Rhashirk beggingly.  
The demon smirked and went nearer: "He's not a boy anymore... All boys become adults, and he's trying hard to appear as one." Then he squatted by his side and pinched his cheek, making Tom use all his strength to hide the pain. "A very good actor, that he is..." Rhashirk went on, grinning now.  
Then he stood up again and looked at the Elders: "And you are really bad liars." He shook his head. He could feel that Tom was not weak at all, he would have been able to get his powers. But it had been impossible.  
Then he turned to him again, fast, and Tom flinched instinctively, opening his eyes. Rhashirk started to laugh very soundly, making all the prisoners thrill in fear.  
"I am not gonna kick you, young man... That's not my style."  
Tom trembled, unable to take his eyes from him, as he bent his legs. "W-w-w... What do you want from me...?" he asked, looking at Odin, and Steve's mother in search for help.  
Rhashirk freed him with a movement of his hand, and Tom could feel the pain in his wrists when his wounds were in direct contact with the air. But he had no time for more, Rhashirk pulled him on his feet.  
"What do you think I want from a little brat like you, that was able to find a way into my place?" he said menacingly, flinching his teeth, as he dragged him away.  
"Leave him alone!" the Elders cried again, in panic. But Rhashirk did not listen.

°°°°°°°°°°

Angela had listened to her husband with a mixture of interest and fear. He had told her about the trouble Chris had, of course without any details. Michael would have never told her that Chris had killed that Elder or what else he had done. But what Michael said was enough to understand, how much this young man had gone through. And now, when he told her that those Elders were mistrusting Chris, Angela could imagine how much he suffered.  
"And you're afraid that he...?" she wasn't able to end this thought.  
But Michael knew what she wanted to say, anyway. "I don't know," he answered, "I'm just afraid that he could do something stupid out of his desperation."  
"He really means a lot to you, right?"  
Michael looked at her with and indescribable expression. He was confused and scared, and annoyed about that question and answer game... But mostly he was afraid. "Yes... YES he DOES!" he exclaimed angry and louder than he had planed. "He saved us, damn it! We owe him our lives, our freedom! And yes, I do care about him, because he isn't only the one who saved us... He's the best friend I ever had! And not because he saved me... He's my friend because he opened his heart to me, even if he didn't know me... he trusted me. And now I'm sure that I DO know him... And I really don't get why those freaks up there don't trust him... 'cause they are always searching for the Greater Good... and if you ask me, it's inside Chris! Deep inside that man lies the Greater Good and no where else!"  
Angela stared at her husband kind of shocked. She had never heard him talking like that. She had never seen him that distressed. And that made her feel sorry, because all this was just for her.  
"I'm sorry," she tried to apologise.  
Now Michael was completely confused: "What???? WHY???"  
"Because it's all for me... If I didn't know, and if I wouldn't be so... scared of all this, you would find a way to go to help him... I'm sorry..."  
Michael couldn't help smiling about her words. He hugged her and whispered to her ear: "Oh Angy I love you soooooo much... and there is NO reason to feel sorry."  
"There is," she said, "but there shouldn't... So, if you want to go, than do it. And don't tell me that you don't want to, because I know you do."  
He sighed, nodding. Then he kissed her.

°°°°°°°°°°

Bianca was sitting on the sofa, with little Hope in her arms, as Victor held a sleeping Chris and looked at him in wonder. That little thing... was gonna grow so smart!  
They had been silent for a while, thoughtful, both of them. Victor thought that it was really weird, now that he knew that this little baby would not actually be the Chris he knew, but the one he had met recently... Christopher. Just a couple of hours talking with him had been enough to make him realise how different they actually were. Even with the same genes! It was just the circumstances that surrounded them, the ones that had shaped both men. And both of them in their own ways, were really wonderful. He finally raised his head and met a smiley Bianca staring at him.  
"It's like a miracle, isn't it?" she asked softly, since Hope had finally fallen asleep, and Wyatt was deeply sleeping by her side on the sofa.  
Victor half-smiled, and nodded: "And you talk about miracles..." Then he chuckled softly: "I remember the times I've spend with my little daughters, when they were like this. I regret that I left them. I thought magic was like a curse, I could not bear it... It was too much for me."  
Bianca listened to him silently, understanding that man perfectly well, as he went on: "After the years, they all have helped me realise how wonderful this is. It's like a blessing..."  
"Actually it can be like a curse too, sometimes," the woman replied, staring at little Wyatt, as all the memories of her past came to her mind. 'That timeline is still there... You two were on my list...' she just kept remembering the words of the angel of death. It had been a dream... she tried to convince herself that it had been a dream, but... she knew it was true.  
"You mean, because this little child had that horrible premonition?" Victor asked, sadly.  
Bianca nodded after a while. "And Wyatt had to feel it too."  
"I know... They are just children. They should not have to go through all this. But I guess they're destined to make a better world for the other kids!"  
Bianca smiled slightly, and then nodded: "I guess so..."

°°°°°°°°°°

It was already three o'clock in the morning, when Michael stood in front of the Halliwell manor.  
His discussion with his wife had last a little longer. He really didn't want to leave her like that, but she convinced him that it was ok, that she understood him.  
Now he stood there, watching the house and thinking about how stupid this was. The Halliwells were surely deeply asleep. But then, when he was about to turn back again, he saw a light flashing on in the attic. And a few moments later, it went off again.  
He sighed. Then he went to the door and knocked. It took not long till he heard some steps from inside. Then the door was opened by...  
"Nicki?" he asked surprised.  
"Hey Mike," the girl said confused, "what are you doing here?"  
He sighed again: "Ok listen, I know it's not the time to make a visit, but I need to talk to Chris, so I thought someone can bring me to the school and..."  
"Wait... stop..." now she was the one who sighed, "he isn't at the school, but... I think it's better you come in first..."  
Michael nodded and entered, a bad feeling forming in his stomach. He observed her closing the door and then followed her to the living room. There they all sat, Piper and Leo, Cole and Phoebe, Paige, that girlfriend of Tom... Veronica, and another person who seemed to be an Elder. They all looked up when he went in.  
"Hey," he said shyly waving his hand.  
Cole shook his head: "Mike, what are you doing here?"  
Michael looked from one to the other: "I'm here because I'm worried... about Chris..."

°°°°°°°°°°

Odin looked to Elenia helpless. "What will he do to him?" she asked, with fear in her voice.  
Rhashirk had pulled him away from their sight a few minutes ago. For a while they still could hear him yelling, but then the sound got lost in the distance.  
"I don't know," Odin said, "I hope he does not the same to him like he did to your son."  
Elenia sighed. She still felt guilty that she wasn't there for her son. She should have... But the Elders who know her story had decided that it's better when she would not intervened. She could have cursed more trouble, if she had returned like this, than she would have helped.  
Now Elenia thought that her fellows had been completely wrong. She wasn't there for her son, when he needed her most. How should she ever be able to look him in the eyes again. A sigh escaped her lips as she thought about him. She missed him so much.  
"It isn't too late," Odin said suddenly, as if he had guessed what she was thinking about. "You know I never agreed with the others," he added when she looked at him again. "From my close contact to the Halliwells I know now how important family is... If this is over, you should talk to him, no matter what the others are saying." Elenia swallowed, then nodded.

°°°°°°°°°°

Tom sighed, while the pain slowly left his body. He was bound to a chair, like you can find it at a dentist. His wrist and feet were bound and also his chest so that he could only breath with difficulties. Everything around him was blinding white. And there was a lamp or something above him which shone so bright that his eyes hurt.  
He knew that place very well, he knew it from Steve's dreams he had shared accidentally, from his memories. He shivered thinking about that.  
He had to get out of there, but how?  
Rhashirk had tortured him a while, with that light and with something that had send an unbearable pain through his whole body. He didn't know how he had made that, but it was horrible.  
But now the demon was gone. He had left him a couple of minutes ago, so that he had a chance to relax a little. He still felt the pain inside him, but slowly his mind became more and more clear.  
He tried to look around, but the light was to bright, he couldn't identify anything of his surrounding.  
He sighed. "Oh Steve... I'm so sorry," he muttered. Then he closed his eyes, while a tear ran over his cheek.  
He had been so stupid to try this alone. Veronica had been right, he should have talked to the Halliwells. This was just too huge for him alone.  
Veronica... He hoped that she wasn't pulled into that dimension like him, that she was save... And if that's so, he hoped that she asked someone for help... Because he really had no idea how he could get out of this alone.  
Then he thought about the Elders... If they had been caught too, then the Halliwells must already try to find them... and with them they had to find him too. Again he sighed.  
He opened his eyes a little, again trying to see something. But it was impossible. There was only that blinding white light.  
"I'm sorry," he muttered again," but I have to try it..." He closed his eyes again and concentrated on his friend. He was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't hear how Rhashirk returned. He didn't noticed him while the demon walked around him, observing him. He didn't noticed him until he again felt that unbearable strong pain...

°°°°°°°°°°

Belthazor had led them to a small layer, which was surely not his. Then he nodded at Julian and grabbed Chris hand. Before the Elder could react he flamed out.  
When they materialised again they were in a huge cave which looked more like the home of the source of all evil. But after all the things that had happened, he doubted that this was really his 'home'. A second later Julian and Steve shimmered in.  
Chris looked at the demon kind of angry: "Ok, what should that be?"  
"Do you really think I want you to know where this place is exactly?" Belthazor asked back grinning.  
Chris looked at him with narrowed eyes, but said nothing. Then he walked around a little examining the stuff that was spread around. "Nice place," he finally said.  
Steve, who was still scared, looked at Chris confused. He couldn't believe that his friend trusted that demon, but he did... it was clear that he - the Elder - trusted the source of all evil.  
"So..." Chris said sitting down on a stool made of stone, "how can I go to that plane of darkness?"  
Belthazor smiled: "I like people who don't waste their time with useless talks." Then he took a rolled piece of old paper and sat down next to Chris. He made a table appear in front of them and unrolled the paper.  
Steve and Julian observed them from the distance. Steve was simply afraid to move closer and Julian knew that those things they were discussing weren't his business. They stood there side by side for a couple of minutes, when suddenly Steve felt a strong headache. Holding his head he sank down on an old chair, moaning in pain.  
"CHRIS!" Julian exclaimed. The Elder and the demon jumped up and ran over to him.  
"Steve?" Chris asked worried.  
Also Belthazor had knelt down next to the young man and took his hand. Chris noticed that with surprise, but he hadn't the time to pay much attention to that gesture. "Steve, are you ok?" he asked again.  
"No," his friend mumbled under his breath, "it's... it's Tom..." Then he suddenly yelled in agony before passing out.

°°°°°°°°°°

A few minutes later Steve had gained back his conscious. He felt a little dizzy but he convinced Chris that he was alright and that he should end for what they had come to that place. And anyway, he wasn't in the mood of talking after feeling that kind of pain again, even if he knew it wasn't really him who suffered this time. But that little fact hurt him even more.  
So Chris and Belthazor had returned to the table for another 10 minutes, while Julian took care of Steve. He really tried to make him feel better. Then Steve saw how Chris and Belthazor shook hands... 'They really shook hands?' he thought but kept silent. He felt the anger rose inside him. He had trusted that Elder, but know he felt kind of betrayed.  
Whatever... Chris returned to him with a weak smile. "How do you feel?" he asked still worried.  
"Fine," Steve answered shortly.  
Chris nodded and then he turned to Julian: "Alright, bring us home..."  
The colored witch nodded, grabbed their hands and shimmered them back to the manor.  
When they arrived in the hallway, Julian wasn't their anymore. Chris rose his eyebrows, he hadn't expect it any different. He sighed and went to the living room.  
"Ok, can you now explain that to me?" Steve asked frustrated following him.  
Chris turned around: "Don't worry, I promise I'll explain that to you in every little detail but we don't have time for that now..."  
"Chris!" Piper exclaimed relieved when they entered while he was still talking. She jumped up to hug him the same second as Chris realised that Michael was there, too. He looked at him frowning, but before he could say anything, Steve rose to speak again.  
The young man was still confused and angry. Not only because his friend didn't told him that before, but also because he knew that Tom was suffering this moment, and he wasn't able to help him. So Steve asked without thinking about the others in the room, he asked the question he needed to be answered: "No Chris... I don't plan to just get over this... I mean, you're an Elder... how can you trust the source of all evil?"  
"WHAT?" Piper, Paige, Leo, Nicki and Veronica exclaimed at the same time, while Cole shook his head with a sigh. Andrew on the other hand, just observed him silently. Not even a frown appeared on his face.  
Chris rolled his eyes. That was the kind of distraction, they really didn't need that moment... "Look..." he started, noticing how the inquiring and accusing eyes of the people around him were fixed on him. He did not know how to explain it, and less in a moment like that. It was too difficult to think clearly with all the things that were going on, and undoubtedly, it was not the best moment for that. But they needed an answer... His parents were looking at him puzzled, as if he had betrayed them or something worse. They did really need an explanation, as well as Steve. Nicki and Veronica were more than interested in the answer too, and Paige was so shocked she did not know what to say.  
"Look..." Chris quickly looked for his uncle in search of help, but help came from a different place.  
"He knows what he does!" It was Michael. He had stood up and walked towards Chris.  
Steve folded his arms on his chest and looked at Michael, angrily: "Well, he must be nuts then, and you don't have any idea of what this life is, so shut up!"  
"Steve!" Nicki exclaimed, seeing Chris's face. Of course, there must have been some explanation. She could not believe that Chris was having deals with the source of all evil. But she turned to look at the faces of the others and started to worry... Could he?? Could he be betraying his own family?  
"What!" Steve cried, angrier and angrier. "All the things that happened to us, all this time... Gosh, even to his family here, look! And he was behind all of them, and pretending that he cared for me, for us!" He had now tears in his eyes, and could not notice Chris's puzzled and hurt countenance.  
Michael wanted to hit that boy who had yelled at his friend that way, and hurt him so much, but he knew that was not the best solution. Besides, the young man had had a truly bad experience before...  
"Steve, that is not true..." Chris said feebly, lowering his eyes, and feeling Michael's hand grabbing his arm kindly.  
"Of course it's not," his friend said, supporting Chris. "He has gone through hell for you, for all of you..." He looked around, from one to another, expecting some reaction.  
Cole looked at him, pondering what he should say, as he saw how Piper and Leo exchanged concerned looks. "I know he's doing what he has to. Please, trust him. It's Chris, you know what he's like. Just trust him, and he'll explain later," he said, trying to give the less information he could.  
Chris looked at him grateful, and swallowed: "Believe him... I'd never do something that hurt any of you. ANY."  
"Oh, yeah, making deals with the source of all evil is something completely inoffensive," Steve remarked with sarcasm. Nicki went to him and held his arm firmly, warningly.  
"Honey..." Piper said, still shocked, "I trust you. We do... But we don't understand..."  
Paige nodded at her sister's words, as Cole looked at Phoebe, not knowing what to do.  
Chris was at the verge of tears, but held them back with a great effort. "He's helping us... He's our only hope now, so please, just trust me. I'll explain everything when this is done..." he said.  
Michael pressed his arm warmly and Cole nodded, waiting for the others' reactions.  
Steve was so mad that the only thing he let go was a laugh full of sarcasm, but said nothing. Nicki didn't either, but Veronica stood up and went to him. "Is this gonna save Tom?" she asked with a firm voice. Chris looked at her in silence for a moment, and then nodded, hesitantly.  
"Then, go the hell with him and do what you have to do, and when he's safe we'll have time to tell you off about all this mess." Her look was so determined, so strong, that it infused reassurance in Chris. He nodded and looked at his parents.  
Leo smiled feebly and gravely: "Go ahead."  
"But come safe," Piper concluded.  
Chris nodded: "Well, actually I need your help... I need a potion."  
"I'll take care of that," Phoebe said and jumped up. She had kept silent all the time, unsure what to do or say. She knew about Belthazor, she knew that Chris and Cole trusted him and why... but... she just couldn't share that trust with them, at least not completely.  
"Thanks," Chris muttered, giving her a sheet of paper.  
His aunt patted his shoulder and looked at him reassuringly. "Don't worry," she whispered.  
Chris nodded and followed her with his eyes, while she went to the kitchen. Then he turned to Steve: "I know that you're angry at me... but... Did Tom send you any information that could be useful?"  
"What?" Veronica exclaimed while Nicki looked at him with worried eyes.  
Steve looked at the Elder-witch angrily, but then shook his head. "He was telling something about the Elders, about Odin and Silas... but then..." he sighed, "I guess at the moment he's suffering like I did." Veronica swallowed by these words shivering, and Nicki hugged her.

°°°°°°°°°°

"Thanks," Rhashirk said with a smirk and threw Tom to a corner of the cave. He didn't chain him. It wasn't necessary, the young witch wasn't able to move anyway.  
Then he turned to the unconscious Silas and knelt down next to him.  
"You bastard, go away from him!" Odin exclaimed trying to get free and help his friend.  
But Rhashirk didn't even listen. He just put his hand on Silas chest and a bluish light appeared moving from the Elder to the demon. When it was done, Rhashirk orbed away.  
Elenia, who was the closest to Tom rushed over to him as far as she could. But she couldn't reach him. "Tom... TOM!" she called for him.  
Odin observed the young witch worried. Tom wasn't moving. He just lied there, his body covered with scratches, and his leg twisted in an unnatural way. His eyes were open, but he just stared into the nothing, like he wouldn't notices what happened around him.  
"Oh my God, " Elenia muttered, when she saw a single tear running down Tom's cheek. She knew him since he had been two years old, when he and his father moved in next to her family, and it hurt her to see him like that. But that was nothing compared to how hurt and guilty she felt because she knew her own son had suffered the same way.

°°°°°°°°°°

In a short moment of silence, Michael gestured to his friend that he wanted to talk to him for a moment, alone. So, to the dislike of the others they left to the hallway.  
"What are you doing here, Mike?" Chris asked as soon as they where out of sight.  
Michael turned to look at him: "I was worried... I mean... all the things you told me, I... I was just afraid that you would go too far to save them..."  
Chris sighed, lowering his eyes. Actually he had asked himself the same question while Belthazor was leading them to his 'base'. But...  
"Don't worry," he said and looked at his friend again, smiling weakly. "Maybe I don't want to be one of them anymore, but... I have a family to take care of... I would never risk to leave them alone."  
Michael let out some air and smiled relieved. "That's good to hear man... Because... I would really miss you..."  
Chris couldn't help smiling widely. He hugged the man tightly, it was good to have such a good friend like him. Even if he had some trouble with Angela at the moment, Michael really cared about him. And the other way round it was the same.  
When they parted Michael looked at his friend frowning.  
"What?" Chris asked.  
The man shook his head: "Don't quit your job up there, you're meant to be there, Chris."  
"Well... I think that's something we should discuss..."  
"Have you seen that other Elder inside there? He is still believing in you, you can see it in his eyes. Even since he heard about your demonic friend..."  
"Michael I..."  
At that moment, they heard Phoebe from the living room: "Potion is ready!" Chris sighed and then they both returned to the others.  
"Ok," anything else you need?" Phoebe asked as soon as they returned.  
Chris took the potion from her and put it into his jeans-pocket. "Well," he said then, "I can't do this alone, even if it is actually maybe possible... but it's to risky to try it... I need a witch coming with me."  
Piper, who was still not sure about where those new facts about the source would lead them to, rose to speak: "Then... what exactly is your plan?"  
Chris felt all the eyes focused on him and that made him feel uncomfortable. "Well..." he said, "I planed to go to that other plain and vanquish that bastard."  
"That easy? So what do you need our help for?" Paige snapped.  
The Elder-witch rolled his eyes: "Of course that is not THAT easy... There is a spell, which must be cast by a witch and an Elder. That spell will block his powers, but only for a couple of minutes. Hopefully enough time to..."  
"And that potion?" Steve asked still angry.  
"It's not for him, it's for..." Chris couldn't finish his sentence. At that moment bluish lights appeared in front of his chest. Sensing something familiar, Chris stretched out his arms just in time to catch his brother and prevent him from falling.  
"Wyatt? What are you doing here?" Piper asked surprised and worried, rushing over to him.  
But the boy just hold strongly onto his brother, crying: "Demon, demon!"  
Chris eyes darkened immediately, and before he could make a clear thought he was orbing to L.A.!  
"CHRIS, ARE YOU NUTS!" Piper yelled after him. Then she turned around to her husband: "Why had he to take Wyatt with him?"

°°°°°°°°°°

When Chris orbed into his grandfathers apartment the whole place was a complete mess. "BIANCA!" he yelled, starting to panic, while his brother was crying into his shoulder.  
Then he heard a moan from underneath the sofa which was turned upside down. Chris moved it away telekinetically, to find Victor lying there, wounded by a fireball.  
"Oh my God," he muttered. He knelt down next to him, placing Wyatt to his side and started to heal the man.  
Wyatt watched him interested. And when the golden light appeared the little boy did imitate his brother. He placed his small hands next to Chris's and then to the Elder-witch's surprise the light intensified. His little brother was really helping with his own healing powers. Chris, despite all the worry and desperation, couldn't help feeling proud of him.  
Then it was done and Victor sat up. "Are you alright?" Chris asked concerned. His grandfather nodded. "What happened?" the Elder-witch asked then.  
"I don't know... Baby-Chris was crying and Bianca tried to calm him down... and then there was that man... he orbed in and we both thought it would be you but... I'm sorry Chris, I tried to stop him but... he took them... The last thing I saw was how Wyatt orbed away and then he..."  
Chris swallowed. Inside he felt his world broke into pieces, but he knew he had to be strong for him, and also for Wyatt who was crying again. "It's ok," he barely managed to say, "I'm sure you did everything you could." He sighed: "Can I leave you alone? I don't think he will return to you."  
Victor nodded. But, when Chris took Wyatt and was about to leave, he grasped his hand: "I'm sure you will find them... alive..."  
His grandson swallowed again. "I hope so," he said and orbed with Wyatt away.

°°°°°°°°°°

When Chris returned to the manor, he looked around and felt like hit by a deja vu. The whole living room was destroyed. He spotted Veronica crashed into the table, Nicki was lying next to the wall, the rest of a picture frame around her, and Steve was lying in the doorway to the kitchen. The others were gone.  
Chris felt like losing the ground under his feet, like he was falling into a deep dark hole with no end. Feeling like he had lost everything, he sank down to his knees and started to cry uncontrollably.

* * *

_(Chapter 8 written by Belén and Chrissy.W.x)_


	9. Chapter 9

**A Charmed Story - Part Nine:  
I, Myself And The Elders  
Chapter 9**

Short after Chris and Wyatt had arrived at the manor, Michael entered from the kitchen with the first-aid-kit in his hands. As soon as he saw the two newcomers, he ran over to them: "Oh my God... Chris," he exclaimed, "thanks God you and Wyatt are alright!"  
"Mickey?" Wyatt said with a shaking voice, as he sucked his thumb and tried to hold back his tears to appear as a grown-up, now that his brother was crying. Chris needed a 'big brother' that made him feel better, so Wyatt would play the big brother, holding his hand strongly in order to comfort him.  
Michael smiled weakly at the small boy and stroked his hair while he looked at Chris, who had just raised his eyes up to him.  
"Mike..." he was really shocked to see him there, save and sound, after all the disaster that had taken place. "What... what happened?" he asked once he had enough strength to do it. "How did you...?"  
Michael sighed as he went over to kneel down by Steve and took some things of the first-aid kit. "Don't know. I just... left for a moment. Went to the bathroom as soon as you were gone. Then all this noise came to me, and I did not dare to go out. You know, Chris..." he said ashamed, "I can't do much, so I thought that it'd be better to remain hidden. I..."  
Chris closed his eyes as tears ran down his cheeks, and nodded, swallowing heavily. "You did well, don't worry..." he said, caressing Wyatt's hand softly.  
The child was looking at him with his big eyes wide open, and all his body trembling. His big brother was feeling so bad... If his big brother felt bad, things were really wrong, because Chris would never feel like that otherwise. And he had seen that ugly demon, he was so scared...  
Chris shook his head and smiled at him, then he hugged him strongly, under the attentive look of Mike who was trying to make Steve wake up with some stinking products he had found.  
"It's ok, were gonna find them," Chris said, feeling what Wyatt was feeling, and therefore feeling the need to comfort him.  
"Chris..." Michael started, "I think your help will be useful here. I mean... you can heal."  
Chris nodded, standing up slowly and going towards Steve. Michael crawled back a little bit so that Chris could do what he had to do, and took Wyatt in his arms as they both observed how the golden light sprang from the Elder-witch's hands on Steve's body.  
Steve awoke after a few moments, taking a deep breath. He looked to Chris with an indescribable expression but said nothing.  
Chris shrugged and smiled feebly. He knew it'd be hard for him to forgive him. He stood up and went to Nicki and Veronica, healing both of them.  
"Where are they?" Nicki asked with a weak voice. Chris swallowed and shook his head.  
"He took them all..." Veronica murmured, with a thrill, as memories of what had happened came to her mind.  
"Doesn't any of you remember anything?" Chris asked.  
Nicki shook her head. She hadn't even had time to see the man who had attacked her. She just saw how Steve was flying against the door, and had tried to run towards him; after that, she only remembered a strong pain.  
"Everything was too fast," Steve answered coldly.  
Michael pressed little Wyatt's body against him, trying to figure out what had happened to Bianca and the children.  
Veronica was still like absent, but she was actually thoughtful. "That demon came. It was him... He attacked us by surprise. I guess no one had time to react. I was knocked out soon, but I saw that he secured them in a sort of forcefield..."  
"When I came there was nothing else," Michael said.  
Chris sighed again, knowing that he would not be able to get anything else from them: "I guess there's no more time to make up stupid plans. I have to go."  
"Are you nuts?" Michael exclaimed. "Haven't you just seen what he has done to your family? What if they...?" He was going to say, 'What if they were all dead by now?', but stopped himself. "You can't go."  
"He's waiting for me."  
"That's why..." Nicki said.  
"He'll not hurt anyone until he has me."  
"That's WHY!" Michael exclaimed desperately.  
Chris shook his head. "God, he has my child. Do you really think I stay here and do nothing?" He made a short break looking at his friends. "I am gonna go. Don't worry, I am ready. Just, I don't want more 'let's make up a plan before', 'let's see what else we can discover first', or anything. I am not gonna wait until he has you all to go," he said and started to orb.  
But Steve rushed to him and grabbed his arm: "I am going with you."  
Chris frowned and looked him in the eyes. He could see he was still angry at him, but apart from that, he saw resolution. He would not be able to convince him to stay behind.  
"NO!" Nicki exclaimed. But it was too late, Chris and Steve were gone. "Noooo..." she whined once again and started to cry. Veronica, even if she felt terrible on her own, went over to her and hugged her.  
Michael just stared into the nothing, slowly shaking his head. "WHY HIM?" he exclaimed. "WHY HAS IT ALWAYS TO BE HIM???"  
The women looked at him shocked by his outburst. Wyatt clenched his fingers into Michael's shirt and started to sob again.

°°°°°°°°°°

Odin and Elenia had been the only awaken persons in the cave for a long time. But then Jeremiah started to moan.  
"Oh my God, he wakes up!" Elenia exclaimed. They both tried to reach him, but they were still chained and too far away from him.  
"Jeremiah?" Odin asked. Slowly the Elder opened his eyes. "Jeremiah?" Odin asked again. "Can you hear me?"  
"What...? Where...? What...?" he felt still too dizzy to speak in complete sentences.  
"It's ok, take it easy," Elenia said, with a worried voice.  
The Elder was still holding his aching head: "What happened?"  
"Rhashirk," Odin said dryly, "he caught you... us... eleven Elders all together, and the witch Tom Marsden."  
Jeremiah sighed: "And where are we?"  
"In another plane..." Elenia explained.  
The Elder wanted to ask some more questions, but suddenly they heard some noises... voices actually... and the cry of a baby.  
"Oh my God..." Odin muttered, having a real bad feeling in his stomach.  
And then they saw them. Rhashirk was pushing the Halliwells into the cave. The sisters and Bianca, all bound with a magical rope, another one around their moths kept them silent... The babies who were put in a small cage, and Leo and Andrew, who were unconscious am now levitating in front of the demon... And Cole...  
"Damned..." he cursed, when Rhashirk pushed him hard against the wall.  
The demon smirked: "Well, what a nice prey... I'm wondering if you're still connected to your other half... Because if that's so, I would really enjoy torturing you..."  
"YOU BASTARD... You will hurt NON of US!" Cole struggled to get free. But the demon had him chained to the wall with a short move with his hand. Rhashirk laughed, satisfied with what he had done, and then again orbed away.  
When he was gone, Cole sighed and sank down to his butt, his arms held up by the chains.  
"Where is Chris?" Odin asked.  
Cole turned his head around, now noticing the others for the first time. He looked at Odin a little confused, then he answered: "I don't know..."

°°°°°°°°°°

Right after reappearing somewhere in the Underworld, Chris looked gravely at Steve and told him not to separate from him. He should stay all the time at his back, protected, and he should obey him and do as he said in all moment. He was not ready to lose anyone else; he was not sure at all if he'd be able to endure it. His eyes were glassy and his voice trembling, but there was something in his tone that showed his determination.  
Steve knew immediately that he'd fight come what might, and he himself regretted a little bit how he had treated Chris before. Therefore, he just followed him, did as he said, and tried not to say anything that could hurt him more in such a moment. Later he'd have time to consider if his deals with the source of all evil were worth his friendship with Chris.  
"We're going straight to a place you won't like," Chris said dryly. "You don't need to come." Steve looked him in the eyes, but without a word, kept on walking behind Chris.  
The elder-witch walked on, leading towards the place where Belthazor had pointing to when they talked before in his lair. Once they arrived in that are even the demons stood away from, Chris took a deep breath and got ready to open the gate to the other plane.  
And then, that was the moment that Steve chose to speak. "Is this the place the demon told you?" he asked wary.  
Chris turned to him, on the defensive: "I told you, you don't need to come if you don't like it."  
Steve ignored the bitter tone and went on: "Are you gonna go then?"  
Chris laughed sarcastically. "I didn't come here to make a tourist tour. Of course I am going. My family and friends are there, my daughter is there," he explained as he examined the walls carefully, as if he was looking for an entrance.  
Belthazor had told him how to arrive in that plane in the same way the old source had done to imprison Rhashirk, and not through the hole the former Elder was using to go to their world. Thus, he had explained, they'd catch him by surprise.  
Steve stared at him thoughtfully. Finally he said: "You really trust him..." His voice sounded so tiredly.  
Chris turned to look at him for a moment. Then he sighed: "I do, in that case. I don't need that you do too, though. I can go on my own, and I promise I will bring them back." Then he went on with his task.  
While he was doing that, he heard Steve's voice again: "No I don't trust him." Chris shook his head and sighed, without looking at him. Then he noticed that Steve had come to his side and was looking at the wall carefully: "But I DO trust you, Chris. And you said you need the help of a witch... So? What are we looking for?"  
Chris stared at him, surprised. Then he smiled weakly, almost unconsciously, but Steve was focused on the wall.  
Chris's hand moved as he turned to speak to him, and touched something that made him stop at the moment. He looked back at that spot and frowned: "I think we found it." It was a little sign on the wall, just a salient piece of rock which resembled a horn.  
Steve approached to have a look, and then asked: "What are we supposed to do now?"  
Chris shrugged: "Go in..."  
Steve was still wondering HOW, when Chris took out a paper and read with a shaking voice...  
_"Enop eht ordo  
Esorfo ilev  
Enop eht esatga  
Tele ni eht ilevd."_  
Steve opened his eyes widely. "What crap is that, man?" he asked, truly scared. It sounded like a really weird and evil language.  
But he had no time for more questions, since suddenly the horn moved, the cave was filled with a strong red light and when they could open their eyes again, the wall had disappeared to give place to a big entrance.  
Chris smiled nervously, as Steve stared at the entrance, where a sort of vortex, like a twister or something, was moving constantly. And they had to cross that...  
_"Open the door,  
Forces of evil  
Open the gates  
Let in the devil."_  
Chris recited in a murmur. Then he smiled at Steve: "There you are a good riddle."

°°°°°°°°°°

When Rhashirk returned he brought another Elder to the cave. She was also unconscious.  
"You bastard," Jeremiah said much calmer than he wanted, "how could you do that to us, you've been one of us!" The others had already informed him, which made him feel kind of confused and scared, too.  
But the demon didn't pay much attention to him. Instead he went over to Cole again, who had rose to face him. "You now, what really makes me wonder?" he said to the witch. "I'm walking around in your world so freely. Why does your other half not go after me?... Maybe he's too... weak?"  
Cole felt the anger rose inside him. He couldn't explain why he felt like that, but he really didn't like the way Rhashirk was talking about Belthazor. "God, I wish I had more powers 'cause then I would blow your ass right into hell!" he yelled at the demon.  
Rhashirk just smirked: "Here... you don't have any powers... except those you'll give to me..." Then he began to laugh evilly.  
Cole was struggling to get free. The chains were hurting him, but he didn't care. He was just so angry... If he would have been free, he would kill that demon with his own hands... Yeah that's what he wanted... he wanted to kill him!  
The girls were looking at him worried, nearly desperate. None of them had ever seen him so angry... evil, disgusting, cold as ice, yes... but never that angry.  
Phoebe shivered, she had to do something. But she couldn't. She was bound and unable to move. But then she had an idea. She closed her eyes.  
"Cole..." he could hear her... Cole could hear his wife. How was that possible, she wasn't able to speak with that magical rope around her mouth.  
"Cole... please sweetie, you have to calm down..." she said.  
Cole shook his head and looked at her, while Rhashirk kept laughing and teasing him. Phoebe's eyes were closed. Could that be, that she was talking to him in his mind.  
"Sweetie... you'll help none of us when you freak out like that... please..."  
Cole just kept looking at her, when he was hit in the face by Rhashirk: "Hey... I'm waiting for an answer... or shall I end your live right now... I mean, if you prefer..."  
Cole's eyes shot back at the demon. He was calmer now, he had to, for his wife. But still he was very angry. "Try it... But be sure, in the end, you'll be the one who's dead," he said with clenched teeth.  
Again Rhashirk began to laugh loud and evilly. Then he left them again.  
Cole sighed and sank down again. He looked at his wife, with a weak smile: "Thanks."  
"What was this about?" Odin asked confused.  
Cole sighed: "Well I guess he tried to... I don't know what he tried, but... for a moment I thought I could lose myself. Thanks God that I have such an amazing wife." He turned to Phoebe again and smiled at her.  
"Mmmm-Mmmmh! M-MM--mmmhhhhhhh!" Bianca tried to gain their attention.  
"What's wrong?" Elenia asked. She could see that the Phoenix was about to freak out.  
Bianca gestured with her head to the small cage where the babies were in. All heads turned to them too. And then they saw what made the young mother freak out. The babies were absolutely silent. They both had stopped crying and where now just lying on the bottom of the cage. They were not moving either.  
Everyone tried to get to the cage, but they were all out of reach.  
"Oh no..." Cole muttered, "please let them be just sleeping..."

°°°°°°°°°°

When Rhashirk left his cave, he felt something weird. Frowning he tried to get it clearer but at that moment it was gone again. He shook his head. All these powers he had absorbed lately were making him feel dizzy.  
He knew he should take a step backwards, but he hadn't the time for relaxing. He needed the last of the Halliwells. And then he could let the hole in the barrier between those two planes let grow wider... and wider... and wider... till there would be only one plane left... his plane... Then he would rule the world... every part of it...  
He smirked imagining how he would slowly kill the source of all evil... Belthazor... He knew he wasn't evil like he should be... But that just meant so much more fun...  
He smiled to himself. Then he went over to that little spot which led to the Golden Gate Park. He needed some more Elders, to intensify his sensing ability.

°°°°°°°°°°

In the manor, Veronica was sitting with a crying little Wyatt in her arms. She tried insistently to make him calm down, as Michael paced nervously in the lounge and Nicki sobbed silently. She had been strong for her friend the whole day, but after seeing the terror in which the manor had been submerged and after having seen Steve leave again to face the demon after all that had happened, she could not stand it anymore.  
Besides, Michael was not helping at all. He was too worried himself to pretend that everything was ok.  
Veronica kept caressing the little child and whispering soothing words to his ears. And as she did it, she could not help remembering the strong and well-built man from the future that had come to the past to help his brother. That young man with wavy blonde hair, the same one that she was holding at the moment and trying to soothe.  
"There must be something we can do," Michael repeated once and again.  
Nicki sobbed and Veronica looked at him shaking her head hopeless: "What do you wanna do? You should actually be in your house, with your wife, enjoying a mortal and normal life, this is not for you."  
Michael glared at her: "Well, I am here trying to be helpful to my best friend, and I have no intention of leaving, even if I can't do anything."  
Veronica shrugged, but Nicki smiled at him encouragingly. "It's ok, Mike..." she said, holding back her tears, "everyone does what he can, and that's more than enough. I am grateful, and I am sure that Chris is, too..."  
Michael sighed: "Wherever he is..."

°°°°°°°°°°

Steve looked at Chris out of the corner of his eye, and Chris did the same thing. "So... let's go, I guess." he finally announced.  
Steve nodded, and followed him, and they had just finished crossing the door and the tornado, when a strange thrill struck Steve's back. That was the place... The dark place where he had been.  
Chris looked at him feeling that he'd maybe give up. He looked scared! "Maybe you're on time to g..."  
"The wolves are over there. I can hear them. The cave must be over there too," Steve interrupted Chris and started to walk towards the direction from where the sound came.  
Chris sighed, worried for his friend and followed him. He knew he was still angry at him, somehow, but he had started to forgive him. He just wished that everything would go well, so that they could think about it from the future and smile.  
They had walked for a while, startling at the mere sound of the dry leaves they stepped on, and the little branches they crashed. But Steve seemed to be more confident with every second that passed.  
Then a voice that made their blood freeze in their veins stopped them. "Gee... Never thought that my prey would come straight to me, and so friendly."  
No sooner had Rhashirk wanted to set foot on the other plane, he had sensed that feeling... a presence in his world... An intruder, a very welcomed one.  
Chris turned, and Steve did the same thing, but Chris covered him so that he could not face Rhashirk and expose himself.  
"Great, I never thought MY prey would greet me before I kill him," Chris answered.  
Rhashirk burst into an evil laughter: "Oh... Really, you more sarcastic than I expected. And very funny! But you forgot a little detail. I still have your whole family, and I assure you that I am having a really good time..."  
Chris felt his heart beating strongly, and his fits clenched as all his body tensed. Steve stayed back, staring at the man whose voice had made him freak out so much.  
"You'd better not put your dirty hands on them or..."  
"Or?" Rhashirk said approaching Chris slowly. "You can't do anything but follow me and accept your fate, young Halliwell. It'd be better if you had stayed in your time. You would be dead without having had time to lie and suffer. I wonder when you'll start to feel dizzy, as your little self dies," he said with a smirk in his thin lips.  
Chris opened his eyes widely: Christopher... He did not know if that would affect him in some sense, due to their connection, but he had learnt to see Christopher as his little brother, and at that moment he was more worried for him than for himself and the possible consequences.  
Steve looked at Chris noticing panic. He had to do something. That bastard had his best friend Tom, and all the family of Chris... He had to do something before Chris's willpower started to weaken, which was starting already to happen...

°°°°°°°°°°

"Cole," Odin turned to him again, "did Rhashirk do anything to them?"  
The man kept his eyes focused on the two little bodies while he shook his head slightly: "Not as long as I have been with them." The Elder nodded still looking worried.  
Suddenly Elenia sighed relieved. She had closed her eyes a few moments ago. "They are alive," she announced. Having the closest position to them, she had tried to sense for the two innocent babies.  
Piper felt the tension leave her body. They were alive, that was the most important thing.  
Bianca instead was still terrified. She still wasn't used to be a mother, neither was she use to being a mother when her baby was in such a danger.  
"Maybe he had put them under a spell or something," Elenia suggested looking at Odin and Jeremiah.  
And WHO are you?" Cole asked. He was still angry about their current situation, so his voice sounded more harsh than he had meant it.  
"Cole!" Odin exclaimed not very pleased.  
"Sorry... " Cole muttered, "I... it's just..."  
"Never mind," she said, "I'm Elenia, I'm an Elder..." That was when another idea hit her mind. She sighed and looked at Odin who nodded, guessing her thoughts. Then she add: "And I'm Steve's mother."  
"WHAT?" Cole exclaimed while all the eyes - except Bianca's - turned to her.

°°°°°°°°°°

Steve could nearly feel how Chris lost his strength... The fear that something could happen to his daughter, his family was starting to control him.  
He didn't know what else to do so he just put his hand on Chris's shoulder.  
The Elder-witch felt that. He took a deep breath, while Rhashirk was still talking about how good the powers of his father felt... "I'm really looking forward to taste those of your little girl," he heard him say.  
"NEVER!" Chris yelled and threw him telekinetically through the air. But Rhashirk landed safely on his feet.  
"You can't beat me," he said smiling, approaching them again, "not here..."  
"Well... let's see who will laugh at the end," Steve said trying to sound confident.  
Rhashirk began to laugh: "Well... you're really trying to fight me... again... Thought you had enough the last time... I mean... you're not even a witch, so why is this bothering you...?"  
Chris narrowed his eyes, while the anger beat down the fear inside Steve. "I AM A WITCH!" he yelled. And then he added a lot calmer: "Wanna find out?"  
Chris meanwhile pulled out another sheet of paper. "Steve... let's read this," he ordered. And both started to read...  
_"Here our voice, here our cry  
witch and Elder begging to the sky..."_  
"NO!" Rhashirk yelled and threw Chris telekinetically against a tree.  
Steve turned around and screamed his friends name. Chris moaned in pain, but had still the paper clenched in his hand.  
Rhashirk, didn't pay much attention to Steve. He was sure that boy was too afraid of him. Instead he approached Chris who was still lying on the ground, pain written on his face.  
Steve watched the demon, thinking hard what to do. He knew he had to do something, but... "Leave him alone!" he yelled. Rhashirk didn't bother to react. He still went nearer to the Elder-witch.  
"I said: LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Steve yelled again and instinctively stretched out his right hand. To his surprise a flash of lightning escaped from his fingertips and hit the demon in his chest.  
Rhashirk, thrown into a bush, yelled in anger and pain, while Steve escaped out of his sudden surprise and rushed over to his friend.  
"Chris? Chris can you hear me?" he asked shaking him.  
Slowly the Elder-witch turned his eyes to him. "Thanks God," Steve said. "Chris, you have to orb us a little away," he ordered quietly while Rhashirk rose to his feet again. Chris nodded, took Steve hand and they both orbed out of sight.

°°°°°°°°°°

They rematerialised just a few yards away, they could still here Rhashirk's swearing. They both didn't want to run away from that fight. They just needed a moment to gain back their strength and... sort a few things out.  
"How did you do that?" Chris asked sitting up, but still holding the shoulder which hit the tree first.  
Steve just looked at him with a worried expression on his face: "I really have no idea..."

* * *

_(Chapter 9 written by Chrissy.W.x and Belén)_


	10. Chapter 10

**A Charmed Story - Part Nine:  
I, Myself And The Elders  
Chapter 10**

"Do you think we should try something?" Veronica asked. Nicki kept looking into the void. She was having the worst year ever, all the time suffering that way for Steve. It was clear she was in love with him. If she had had any doubt, now she was sure... But love brings happiness and sadness, too. Good and bad moments. And this was one of the worst.  
Instead of her, it was Mike that turned to the girl: "Of course you should do something! You are witches, aren't you? We can not leave them like that! I'd go if I could, but I am useless!" Nicki and Veronica looked at him worriedly.  
"You are not useless, but freaking out does not help us," Veronica answered, as calm as she could. Michael stared at her angrily. "I know what you are thinking about, but Mike, you don't know anything about this world. Our men are there too, and they are suffering, don't you think we also wanna do something?" Nicki nodded, shivering, as Mike listened attentively, somehow crossed.  
"But look... All those Elders are missing, and the Halliwells too, and the world has never been in such a danger before. Do you think we are helpful if we just go after them and fall in the trap?"  
Mike swallowed: "You are not helpful if you just stay..." He took little Wyatt in his arms. The boy was pulling his trousers and crying again.  
"We can wait until we know something else," Veronica said in a determined tone.  
Nicki closed her eyes: "Can't we try to contact them? Somehow...? Actually I can..."  
"No," Veronica said, "you always need a long time to recover after you do that. We can wait, they'll find a way to let us know."  
Mike growled in frustration, but when he was about to add something, Wyatt said: "Chris does not cry... He does not hear me..."  
The three faces stared at the little child in Mike's arms. "Can you repeat that?" he asked, nervously. Which Chris was he referring to?? The baby?? Or the adult one?  
But Wyatt was weeping even more now. "Chris does not hear me... I can't hear him..."

°°°°°°°°°°

Chris and Steve hurried through the dark world. Steve was really fast on his feet and Chris struggled to follow him, while his shoulder still hurt like hell. There were surly some bones broken.  
"Steve we can't run away!" Chris yelled. They could hear Rhashirk's footsteps in their back, clearly not far away. He was following them.  
"Steve? Where the hell are you going?" Chris's Elder-senses told him that his friend was kind of out of his mind, he was close to an emotional overload, caused by that place and his memories...  
He wasn't sure if he could walk around there, like Steve did, after all his friend had gone through. Steve had told Chris a lot already, so the Elder-witch knew what his friend had to deal with at that moment.  
"I'm going to his layer!" Steve shouted back over his shoulder.  
Chris sighed. He needed to stop his friend. They should deal with the demon first, as long as they were able to. Because Chris could feel his powers turn weak. He didn't know why, maybe it was this plane, but he could feel it.  
"Can't you feel it? We're losing our powers bit by bit..." he yelled. "Steve, you have to feel it!"  
But suddenly Steve stopped. "What the hell?" Chris asked nearly running into his friend. Then she saw it too...  
Three wolves stood in front of them, their deadly eyes focused on them, their prey. They were lusting for their meal... some fresh humans...

°°°°°°°°°°

Bianca's eyes were still focused on her girl. She was everything to her, and now Hope was in that cage, without moving. Tears streamed down her face. She felt so much fear... She had been afraid before... when Chris left to the past, when she nearly died, when she found out that she was pregnant... but all that was nothing compared to the fear of losing her little baby-girl.  
"She'll be alright," Elenia said, knowing exactly how she felt.  
But the Phoenix didn't pay attention to her. She just kept her eyes focused on the little girl's body.  
"Don't you think you should explain some things to us, before talking like a psychologist???" Cole asked still waiting for an explanation from the Elder.  
Elenia turned her face back to him: "What do you want to hear? Yeah, Steve is my son. I left the Elders for being able to give birth to him... but when the double demons attacked all of us, I had no choice. I had to go back to them to be able to help you..."  
The sisters looked at her with a mixture of confusion and not-understanding. But Cole just looked angry: "You left him for being up there? Why didn't you came down to him once in a while, like Chris and Leo? And where have you been when..."  
"Cole! That's enough!" Odin said energetically. "You have no idea what Elenia has already gone through. And believe me, she will sort the things out with him when this is over. But that's something between them, that's none of your business!"

°°°°°°°°°°

Michael, who had finally sat down on the ground, hugged the little boy desperately. Wyatt was repeating that he couldn't feel his brother anymore, and that scared the man to death.  
Veronica and Nicki just looked at each other, scared like he was. There was nothing they could do.  
"What if we try to summon them?" Veronica asked.  
"And then?" Nicki shot back hysterically. "Rhashirk will be here in a minute and who knows what he has already done to them... What if they wouldn't be able to fight for us, because WE can only hardly defend ourselves against someone like this. We may all be good witches but we don't have any active power."  
"You have telekinesis," Veronica remarked.  
"You have?" Michael asked surprised. He had met the young woman a few times, but never noticed her using that power.  
"No... Yes, actually I can move things with my mind... VERY SLOWLY... It's too weak to use that in a fight. Especially against someone like Rhashirk." Veronica sighed. Everyone kept silent for a while.  
Then they heard someone knock on the door.  
KNOCK!!! KNOCK!!!  
The girls looked at each other while Michael hold the little boy even closer. "Who could that be?" he asked.  
"I don't know..." Nicki said.  
KNOCK!!! KNOCK!!!  
Veronica stood up: "I'll go and check this." Nicki wanted to stop her but she was already in the hallway.  
She and Michael tried to hear something of the things which were spoken outside, but they couldn't. Anyway, it seemed, that it wasn't anything dangerous. Then Veronica returned... followed by another woman.  
"ANGY!" Michael exclaimed kind of shocked. 'What is she doing here?' he thought.  
The woman waved her hand shyly. "Hey," she said.  
Nicki looked at Veronica. The witch shrugged and sat down next to her friend again.  
"Am... Am I disturbing you guys?" Angela asked blushing a little.  
"No... no, of course not," Michael said, "it's just... what are you doing here?"  
She sighed and looked at the girls. Nicki avoided her look but Veronica shrugged: "Oh we would leave you two, but at the moment we really shouldn't separate because of... our demon of the week." She grinned but then felt a punch in her side. "Outch," she glared at Nicki who gave her a warning look.  
Angela sighed and went over to her husband, kneeling down next to him. "I'm sorry," she said. "When you were gone I had a lot of time to think... about all that, about what happened. And... maybe I was a little fast with my judgement." Michael wanted to say something, but she didn't let him. "No Mike, I know it was that way.. and I'm sorry. I know how much Chris means to you, I think I just needed a moment to understand that... I love you, and when that means getting involved in that magic stuff, than may it be." She sighed.  
Michael just looked at her, not knowing what to say. He loved her so much, so endlessly. He just caressed her cheek lovingly with watery eyes and then kissed her passionately. "I love you so much, honey," he said than.  
"I love you, too," she answered. Then she looked around. "So... Where is the rest?"

°°°°°°°°°°

"Don't move..." Chris muttered, feeling the tremor in Steve's muscles when touching his shoulder.  
"Don't move?" was the sarcastic response. "What are we supposed to do, let them eat us?"  
Chris ignored Steve's bitter words; he just fixed his eyes in the legs of the wolves, feeling their breath so near, hearing their angry growls. "Don't look in their eyes. That's like a defiance," Chris went on, trying to think fast. His arm hurt so much... He could not think in that state! But time was working against them...  
"Chris... They're gonna attack." The growls were more and more intense and one of the wolves stepped forward, opening its mouth widely enough to show them their sharp fangs.  
Suddenly they heard the clasps of hands at their backs. "Nice lesson, young Halliwell. You should have studied biology, instead of living in the world of magic." He made a signal with his hands to the wolves, and they sat on the ground, more quiet now. "That would have saved your life!" Rhashirk exclaimed, throwing the Elder-witch against the bushes telekinetically.  
Chris screamed in pain as his shoulder hit the floor, and tears wetted his eyes. This time it was broken for sure.  
Steve opened his eyes widely as well as his mouth. He turned to look at Chris, and then the wolves and Rhashirk... and panic invaded his whole body. He swallowed: "Don't dare to touch me."  
"Or...?" Rhashirk smiled.  
Steve looked to Chris, desperate. The young elder was trying to recover. He tried to heal himself, but it didn't work. His shoulder and arm hurt like hell, he even thought he'd pass out, but he could not do it... He took a deep breath and taking the paper out of his pocket with the sane arm, orbed it to Steve's hand.  
"You're not gonna get what you want," Steve was saying to Rhashirk, when the paper appeared in his hand. He looked at it, and then to Chris, trying to hide it. They had to say it faster this time, but before he could start, he saw that Chris was also hiding something in his hand and reading from it.  
_"Here our voice, here our cry..."  
_Suddenly Rhashirk turned to him furious, and raised his hand, starting to strangle Chris telekinetically.  
Then, Steve understood: That was a manoeuvre of distraction, Chris did not have any paper at all. He quickly opened his own paper, as he heard nervously, how Chris choked, and how Rhashirk made fun of him. "Stupid witch, trying again? Do you think you're fast enough?"  
_"...witch and Elder begging to the sky..."_  
Chris took his hands to his neck, scared to death at the disagreeable feeling of not being able to breathe, when Rhashirk let go off him to look at Steve, in shock, as the young man went on.  
_"...stop this threat, stop his magic..."  
_"Are you kidding me?" Rhashirk threw the young witch flying against the trees. "Do you think I am an idiot!!" he exclaimed really angry, approaching the boy, as Chris was still trying to breathe. He closed his eyes trying to remember the last part of the spell, since Steve had the paper. He just had to...  
_"...strip from his powers the demon Rhashirk. "  
_He opened his eyes and looked at him. He was not sure if it would actually work. They should have said it together. But they had done, in a way... And Rhashirk was so blind by the fury that he had not even realised he had finished the spell. He crossed his fingers, still breathing heavily, and his shoulder giving him the worst time of his life.  
Meanwhile, Rhashirk approached Steve fast. The young man had just recovered the consciousness and tried to put some space in between. He was trying to find the paper to finish the spell, but he had lost it after falling. His scared eyes crossed with Rhashirk's.  
"You're gonna pay for this..." The old demon said as Steve closed his eyes, in fear.

* * *

_(Chapter 10 written by Belén and Chrissy.W.x)_


	11. Chapter 11

**A Charmed Story - Part Nine:  
I, Myself And The Elders  
Chapter 11**

Steve heard how Rhashirk approached him. "Now you'll pay..."  
The young man just wanted it to be something fast. He did not want to go through the same things as the previous time, he couldn't. Or maybe Chris would have time to do something, and save him? But no... He was wounded. The two of them were doomed.  
However, the next thing he heard was Rhashirk's furious voice cursing. He opened his eyes carefully, just to meet the demon's eyes, and suddenly after that, a blow stroke his face, making him fall on his side.  
"You little bastard, what have you done?? Speak now or I swear that you and your pathetic friends will suffer in an indescribable way!!"  
Chris breathed relieved when he saw that in fact, the spell had worked. "Steve!!" he yelled, standing slowly and stumbling towards them.  
Rhashirk turned to face him immediately and made the attempt to use his powers against him, forgetting for a second that he was not able to do it.  
Chris took advantage of his hesitation, and threw him to the ground with his telekinesis. Steve stood up then, still shocked, and looked at Chris who was in so much pain. "Steve... We don't have much time..."  
Rhashirk had never been so angry in his life. How the hell had those little witches been able to dismantle his entire fabulous plan? He sat in pain and tried to stand. "On them!" he cried, in the direction of the wolves.  
"Damn it..." Chris cursed clenching his teeth. He had just the time to turn and see the wolves jumping on him, but his reflects were still good, in spite of the pain, and soon the animals were flying through the air.  
Steve swallowed and turned to Rhashirk who was again on his feet, and had something in his hand. Steve lowered his eyes to see what the bright thing was, just when the ex-Elder raised it to stab the young man with the athame.  
Steve opened his mouth surprised, but there was no time to think. Before he could even realise, he had kicked the old man in the stomach, making him drop the weapon.  
Steve seized the athame quickly and looked out of the corner of his eyes to see that the wolves were jumping again on Chris, but the young Elder-witch managed to beat them once again. But Rhashirk was already standing up and Steve did not have time to think more about it.  
"You stupid b-b-b..." the demon could not end what he planned to say. He opened his eyes widely, feeling the pain in his stomach. His hands touched it and were stained in blood in a couple of seconds. He looked at Steve surprised. "You... You..."  
Steve was still holding the athame, so he just took it back with a harsh movement of his wrist, and stared at Rhashirk with a mixture of hatred and fear, and at the same time excitement and relief. "That is for whatever you did to Tom and Chris's family," he said coldly, ignoring Chris completely.  
The young man glared at the demon who tried to remain steady on his feet, but it was impossible. Finally he fell on his knees, with the shocked expression on his face. "And this..." Steve said, stabbing him once again, this time in the heart. "This is for me."  
Rhashirk took a deep breath, but only blood came out of his mouth. He tried to say something, but words would not come out. His pupils were big, and he could hardly see. Only a blurred figure in front of him...  
A wolf fell heavily on his side, and Chris cursed when another one attacked him. He was so tired...  
Rhashirk fell on his side as soon as Steve recovered the athame. He was dead.  
The wolf that had turned on Chris, just fell on him. This time, Chris had not been able to use his telekinesis on time. The wolf was going to kill him... But it was motionless, still...  
Chris tried to move it, but it was so heavy... He gasped in pain, his shoulder and arm ached too much. He took a deep breath: "Steve??"  
There was another wolf lying, probably dead, by his side. But he could not see Steve. He was at his back. "Steve!"  
The young man was completely engrossed in the dying body of the demon that had made him suffer so much... After a while, a black shadow came out of the open mouth of Rhashirk, and then blue lights surrounded him, as if they were being exhaled from inside his body. The lights flew away, illumining for a moment the dark sky in that dimension. Then the sky was again dark, and Steve heard Chris's voice at his back.  
"Steve..." Chris could barely breathe due to the weigh of the animal that lied dead on him.  
"Chris! Are you ok?" He rushed to help him, finally moving the dead animal enough to help his friend out.  
Chris gasped again and moaned a little bit. Then he took a deep breath, happy that he could finally breathe. "I am... I am fine..." Then he saw Rhashirk's body and looked at Steve questioningly, still kneeling by the wolf.  
Steve smiled softly and nodded. "He's dead..." he said as he stretched his hand to help Chris stand. The Elder-witch took another deep breath and closed his eyes, relieved, as he held his friend's hand and stood up with difficulty.  
"But I don't know why his remainings doesn't end up in flames," Steve added then, a little confused.  
"Magic is different here, I guess," Chris said, his voice tired. "How are we gonna find them now...?" he asked then, regretting suddenly that the demon had died.  
Steve helped him to be steady. "Don't worry... I know the way... I think," he said, feeling that trusting in his senses, he could find the way back to those caves.  
Chris just nodded, tiredly, and then took a fast look at the demon and wolves, before following Steve, deep in his thoughts: Rhashirk had been an Elder before becoming a demon... And the oracle had behaved the same way when they had asked it about both of them... It had just shaken. Why?? He looked at Steve as he walked in front of him. Perhaps the young man was right, and his deals with Belthazor were leading him to become what Rhashirk had become... in a far or near future.

°°°°°°°°°°

Angela stared into the nothing. All the things her husband and those two girls had told her... it scared her, it scared her to death. She had met that demon on her own, she knew that he was a monster. And the thought that he had imprisoned the whole family... including the babies... it was horrible...  
Michael hugged her. "I'm sorry he whispered. I'm so sorry..."  
"It isn't your fault," she said, caressing his cheek. "And I'm sure Chris will come back safe, with all of them."  
"But... I didn't want you to get involved with all that... you shall not worry about all this." His voice was trembling a little. "That's why I agreed that they took your memories... I knew I would always be worried when something like this is going on... because Chris is my friend... But I don't want you to be worried, I want you to be happy."  
"Oh Mickey," Angela whispered smiling, even if a few tears were running down her cheeks, "I love you so much... and, remember, in good and bad times we promised... I don't want you to worry alone." Then she took his face in her hands and pressed her lips softly against his.  
Veronica and Nicki, who had given the couple a little more space to talk, by sitting down on the other side of the room, returned to them. The latter cleared her throat "I don't know," she said hesitantly, pointing at Wyatt who was sleeping in her arms, "but it seems he had calmed down... maybe that's a good sign."  
Michael looked at them and sighed: "Let's hope so..."

°°°°°°°°°°

When those blue little lights appeared in the cave, the prisoners got scared. What was Rhashirk now doing to them? Would he finally kill them?  
But the lights didn't kill. Instead they went to those Elders they belonged to. They hovered over their bodies for a moment and then, went inside them.  
Seconds later Leo inhaled deeply, same as all the others who had been unconscious.  
Silas was one of the first who sat up. "What happened?" he asked.  
Odin looked to him confused and unable to form a word while Cole said: "Seems you got your powers back."  
"Wait... When you all got your powers back, then..." Odin said, his brain finally working again.  
"Chris..." Leo muttered, while Cole nodded.  
"Pah... What should he have done?" one of the other Elders, one of those who had been against the Elder-witch, said. Piper and Bianca glanced at him angrily, and mumbled something which he luckily couldn't understand.  
"Save us..." Jeremiah replied, which earned him some surprised and confused looks from his friends, while Odin smiled.  
Silas turned to Leo and Andrew: "Hey, you two are not chained... so could you maybe help to free us?"  
Leo was about to rise, when Odin stopped him. "No... first look after the babies and Tom," he ordered.  
'The babies?' Leo thought. Then his head turned to the little cage. "Oh God... Christopher! Hope!" he exclaimed and went over to them.

°°°°°°°°°°

When Steve reached that big hole in the darkness, he stopped. "Is that the entrance?" Chris asked, as soon as he caught up with him.  
"Yeah," his friend said with a calm voice. His eyes were fixed on the way in front of him. His whole body was tensed.  
Chris sighed and put a hand on his shoulder: "I can go in there alone, if you don't..."  
"No," Steve said and took a deep breath, "let's go." Then he stepped down the long way which was leading deeper and deeper inside that cave. Chris sighed again, then followed him, wondering if it was a good choice for his friend to come here...  
After a few yards they reached a big room which was brightly illuminated on one side. There in the light stood a uncomfortable looking chair. On the dark side stood some things for torturing.  
Steve swallowed. Being in this room again, brought all the pain, which was carefully hidden inside him, back to the surface. He started to cry, silently.  
"Hey, it's ok," Chris said hugging him with his unbroken arm. He knew a lot about what had happened in this room, Steve had told him a lot. And he could imagine how his friend felt this moment.  
But all of a sudden Steve exclaimed: "No... it's not!" He freed himself from Chris's hug and threw another flash of energy against that damned chair making it explode.  
Chris watched his friend startled. He was worried, that the young witch could lose his mind over all this, especially with that kind of power which was seemingly controlled by his fears.  
But when it was done Steve turned to him with a weak smile. The chair and the light were in pieces. And Chris could see a sparkle in Steve's eyes, when he said: "Now it's ok."

°°°°°°°°°°

Andrew had knelt down next to Tom, checking if he was alright, and healing his leg and the cuts and bruises. Then he announced that he was fine, at least physically. But still he was not himself. He was reacting, when he was touched, but it was more like a reflex than a conscious reaction.  
Then Andrew began to free the others.  
Meanwhile Leo had managed to open the cage and pulled out the two small bodies. Relieved he noticed that they were breathing, but he couldn't wake them up. "Try if your healing works," Odin had suggested. Leo had tried it, but it didn't work. It was as if their conscious was suppressed by something, as if their mind would be sleeping.  
As soon as Piper and Bianca were freed, they went over to Leo. The Phoenix took her girl to her arms and hold it close, desperately. She was so afraid of losing her, she had never thought that she was able to feel so much fear.  
Piper on the other hand looked angry at her husband. "Do something!" she exclaimed. But before Leo could answer, they all heard a noise, like something was exploding.  
"What was that?" Cole asked, scared that Rhashirk would maybe comeback.  
Then they heard footsteps. They wanted to hide, but there was no use. Fearful they all watched the entrance.  
Steve was the first who entered. And as soon as he saw Tom, he rushed over to him.  
"Bianca?" Chris yelled when he stepped into the cave right after his friend.  
"Chris?" Bianca exclaimed relieved. "Oh my God... I'm here!"  
Not only her, everyone was relieved to see the Elder-witch and his friend. And everyone started to ask questions and stuff. But they both didn't listen.  
Chris had seen his wife, and his girl... the way she was holding her. And a thought and a feeling of fear crossed his mind which blocked out everything else. He rushed over to them, not paying attention to his aching shoulder any longer. Kneeling by their side, he caressed Hopes cheek. "Thanks God, she's alive," he said, but his voice broke, because his emotions were overwhelming him.  
"Chris, she doesn't wake up..." Bianca sobbed, and the Elder-witch could see the pain in her eyes.  
"Same as Christopher and... and Tom," he heard Piper add from somewhere at his side But he barely registered it, his mind was clouded with worry.  
What should he do? He had no idea about what he could do... What had that bastard of Rhashirk done to his girl? For a moment he wasn't able to even think.  
Then he felt a hand on his shoulder and when he looked up he saw the eyes of Cole, who just looked at him, with all the silent trust in his eyes. He didn't say a word to him, but the simple fact that he was there on his side, made Chris calm down... Like it always had been...  
"Don't worry," Silas said, "they are still alive, and we'll find a way to bring them back."  
Chris, who still looked at his uncle, felt how his brain started to work again. And then it hit him... Awkwardly he pulled out the vial with the potion Phoebe had made for him. And a piece of his conversation with the source came back to his mind...  
_"For what is that?" Chris had asked. "I thought you said there is no potion..."  
Belthazor had just laughed: "That's not for him... it's for the case that you need to bring someone of your friends back from a place darker then you can imagine. If you're fast enough they'll even not remember..."  
_Carefully he opened the vial.  
Steve who was on Tom's side, noticed that with worry and fear, but before he could say something, Piper rose to speak. "Chris what are you doing?" she asked, when Chris lowered the small bottle to Hope's lips. "Isn't that the potion, which you got from Belthazor?"  
The Elder-witch hesitated a moment, while he felt all the eyes, of the people around him, focused on him. He knew it was weird, he knew it was a risk, because Belthazor was still a demon, even more he was the source. But he had to try it, he felt it was right. "Yeah," he answered dryly. He was looking at his wife, waiting for her permission. When she finally nodded he poured a single drop of the potion into his babygirl's mouth.  
For a moment they all kept silent, holding their breaths. First nothing happened and Chris felt the fear return to him. What if he had been wrong? What if the source betrayed them?  
But then Hope began to stir and finally she opened her eyes. And when she looked at Chris, when he saw her green eyes looking back at him, the Elder-witch felt like new born. He felt so much joy that he could nothing else do then laugh. He hugged his wife who was laughing and crying at the same time and he kissed the forehead of his girl.  
Then he gave the potion to his mom. "Here... one drop for mini-me and the rest is for Tom," he ordered.  
Moments later baby-Christopher was crying loudly and also Tom was waking up.  
Elenia sighed. She could just hide behind the others Elders - her son, who was taking care of his friend, hadn't noticed her yet. But she couldn't do that... Odin's words were still there in her mind, and when she would hide now, and go back to up there with the others, she would never get this chance again. She took a deep breath and went over to her son. She put her hand on his shoulder and said with her soft voice: "Steve... I..."  
Her son turned around... and froze. He thought he would dream. That couldn't be true, could it? "MOM?"

°°°°°°°°°°

About an hours later, Chris was sitting on the sofa of the manor, with Bianca by her side, holding a sleeping Hope, and Paige by his other side. Between her and Chris, Wyatt slept profoundly, holding Chris's arm. Michael had told him about his brother, how he had behaved and all. He wanted to talk with him, but he also needed to go back with Angela and talk with her, so now that he had seen everyone was fine, he could leave for a while.  
"Don't do anything stupid before talking with me," Michael had said before seeing Chris orb away from his house, after he had taken the couple back there. "Don't worry that much, man. I'll be here tomorrow, as we agreed." Chris had answered while he disappeared.  
Now, the young Elder was moving his arm back and forth, grimacing as if it still hurt.  
"Didn't Leo heal it properly?" Paige asked sarcastically.  
"He did... I guess I have cramps now. Lack of exercise..."  
"Being a daddy takes a lot of time from you," Bianca smiled, much calmer now.  
"And hours of sleep..." Chris sighed, resigned, as Paige burst into laughter.  
At that moment Piper came in with Christopher in her arms, followed by Nicki who was carrying a plate with tea. "Sweetie... Grandpa was on the phone, for at least half an hour. He said he needs to see you and the kids. He feels guilty because that demon took them... I could not convince him that everything was ok and that he did more than he could, so I guess you'll have to pay him a visit..."  
Chris smiled sadly: "It was a really bad experience for him..." He sighed. Then he turned to Bianca and said: "Do you mind?"  
She smiled: "Go, come on... We are not gonna leave..."  
Chris kissed her softly on the cheek and took their girl to his arms. Holding Hope tightly he then orbed away, under the attentive look of his wife.  
"Don't forget you still owe us an explanation!" Piper exclaimed, but he was already gone.  
At that moment, the phone rang... again. "No..." Piper sighed, about to stand up again after having sat on a chair. "You are away one day, and all the people decide to phone you..."  
"No, wait!" Paige said, standing up very quickly. "That one should be for me!!" And she rushed to the phone.  
Piper and Bianca observed her curious, when she said: "Hello? Oh, Kyle! How are you??"  
The oldest of the sisters rolled her eyes. "Love..." she said, making Bianca and Nicki smile.

°°°°°°°°°°

It was a bit windy, but not so much as to be a problem for the two people sitting on top of the bridge, which seemed to be the favourite spot of all the Elders.  
"I am sorry..." the soft voice of Elenia said, who was looking at the water, thoughtful.  
Steve smiled at her feebly, and squeezed her hand: "Don't be." A lonely tear ran down her cheek slowly, as she made a vain attempt to hold back her sobs. Steve went on: "I am ok, everything is ok now..." He had listened to the whole story and was more than shocked, but he had to try to be strong for her.  
"I wasn't there for you. Tom was right... I should have been there for you... You almost..." she was going to say 'killed yourself' but she couldn't. Instead, she broke out in tears.  
Steve's heart shrunk at the sight of his mother suffering that much. "Mom, it's ok... Tom is like that, you know him. He did not mean to hurt you. And he was so terrified, I can't imagine what he told you, but please, ignore it..."  
Elenia shook her head peremptorily. "You don't understand. I am your mother. It's not because of what Tom said. It's just beCAUSE. I should have been there and comfort you, as every mother does. I should have done as Chris and Leo do... But I put my job over my tasks as a mother."  
Steve listened to her, feeling so sad for her, but also for him. He was suffering for her, but at the same time, he had missed her so much. However, he said, smiling: "That wasn't your fault. I know you would have come if they had let you... And... You had been there for me. You were there when those double demons attacked. You were always there, somehow... I know it, I always did. And now everything's fine." Elenia swallowed, unable to smile, as she tried to read in his son's eyes the truth of what he was saying. He went on: "Moreover... You are here now for me, aren't you? You are back."  
Elenia kept silent, looking at him, as tears ran down her cheeks.  
"Mom...?"  
The Elder turned her head, still silent, observing the slowly rising sun.

°°°°°°°°°°

Chris had hardly time to materialise completely, because Victor jumped up and hugged them as fast as he could. The Elder-witch smiled: "Ok... please let us breathe..."  
Victor put a little space between them, just enough to look his grandson in his eyes: "Chris, I'm so relieved that you're all alive." Then he looked at the small girl in his grandson's arms: "Are you sure that the babies will not remember anything?"  
Chris nodded: "Yeah... well at least Tom doesn't, so I think with Hope and mini-me, it will be the same." Then Chris noticed that his grandfather's apartment was still a mess. He sighed: "I'm sorry... for all that you had to go through today... for all..."  
"Don't worry about that," Victor interrupted him. He sighed: "It's nothing that can't..."  
"No," Chris said, "Rhashirk could have killed you, damned... that's not right."  
"But he didn't kill me, Chris," his grandfather replied and led him to the sofa. "Come on... sit down..." The Elder-witch did as Victor began to talk. "When your mom was a child I wasn't there for her, just because I..."  
Chris rolled his eyes: "Grandpa, I know that story... I've heard it abou..."  
"Oh, that's good," Victor interrupted him, "because than you'll maybe understand that I will not let that happen again... I will be a part of your life, and your brothers' lives and your daughter's life... And I don't care how risky that is, because I just want to be there for you, ok?"  
Chris nodded with watery eyes. He couldn't help feeling like a child again, like when his grandfather cheered him up when something went wrong... like he did it, when his mom had died... He swallowed, then said: "Don't risk too much, because I love you so much, that I don't think I could handle losing you."  
His words hit Victor deep down inside his heart. He couldn't believe how much love he felt for that boy, that he still not really knew. There was something special about him, something amazing. "I'll try my best, Chris," he said while hugging him again, "but everyone dies someday and... I'm not the youngest anymore."  
Chris sighed: "I know."  
For a moment they kept silent. Then Chris added: "Mmmmm... if I'm still an Elder by that time, I could try to make you a whitelighter." Now Victor laughed loud and heartily. He still got sick by orbing, he really couldn't imagine himself doing that on his own.  
But then he turned serious again: "What do you mean with 'if you still'?"  
Chris sighed: "I told you... most of the Elders doesn't accept me, they don't want me up there... And the oracle, it reacted in a strange way, when they asked it about me... actually the same way, like it did when they asked it about Rhashirk."  
Victor nodded, even if he didn't understand that at all. "So... now you're afraid that you're a demon or... I mean... that's crazy, you're good!"  
Chris shook his head: "Rhashirk had been an Elder, too."  
His grandfather sighed, finally understanding. "Maybe... but you're not him. I know that you are a good boy and a good Elder. Your powers comes from deep down inside here," he said, placing his hand over Chris's heart. "And I know your family needs you, Wyatt needs you... Did you know that he was only talking about you, all the time he was here? He loves you... And I know that you know that they need you."  
Chris smiled weakly: "Thanks..." Then he thought about the things the oracle had shown him, when he was alone up there... Maybe things weren't that bad at all...

°°°°°°°°°°

Veronica and Tom were in the little lounge at his house, eating silently. He was looking down, and she did not dare to stop his stream of thoughts. She was afraid of having Tom in the same state as Steve had been. She was not sure whether she would be able to be as patient as Nicki was...  
Tom was still thinking about what had happened. He knew Rhashirk had caught him, chained him in that room with the other Elders. He remembered seeing Steve's mom... But then? Nothing! The next thing he remembered was how he opened his eyes as if he had slept all day. He remembered that he looked into the concerned eyes of his best friend who immediately pulled him into a hug. That was all. But he knew that wasn't all that happened, to him... There had been more, he could see it in the other's eyes when they looked at him, he could see their worries.  
"I am sorry..." he suddenly said, without looking her in the eyes, knowing he would find the same worries there, too.  
"What?" Veronica was surprised, but Tom looked so ashamed...  
"I am sorry... I should have never tried that on my own."  
Veronica observed him for a while, and then pressed his hand tenderly: "It's ok, I am not angry." She did not want to talk much, since - according to Chris - the most probable thing was that he did not remember anything.  
"Something happened down there, am I right?" Veronica looked him in the eyes, terrified, but Tom smiled as only he could do it: "Don't worry, I don't wanna know. I am not so stupid."  
She smiled back, sadly: "You're fine, that's what matters. And you did that for Steve. That's something great, Tom. I admire you."  
The boy smiled: "That wasn't brave, that was stupid..."  
"You were not trying to show your bravery, but your friendship. And you know how much Steve appreciates it..."  
Tom nodded: "I'm glad they made me forget. I know it was too bad. And I know Steve is stronger than me..."  
Veronica felt a thrill, but said nothing. She just squeezed his arm and went on eating, as well as he did. Then, she looked at him again, and grinned: "Do you want a cookie?"  
He raised his eyes to see the cookie right in front of his nose. He took it suddenly, and started to eat, smiling. Both of them started to laugh, happy that everything had gone well in the end.

°°°°°°°°°°

When Steve and his mom appeared in the Halliwell-manor, Nicki jumped up happily, but was frozen in shock the same second. "Mrs Moody?" she whispered. 'How can that be,' she thought as Leo patted her shoulder, 'why is she wearing an Elder-robe?'  
"I love you mom," Steve said, hugging her one last time.  
"I love you too, baby, and I swear I'll do everything I can to come back as fast as possible."  
Her son nodded sadly as she took his face in her hands and kissed his forehead. Then she orbed away.  
Steve sighed before he turned to Leo: "You have to help her to convince the others, Leo... you have to."  
The Elder nodded, while his wife hugged him: "I promise, we'll find a way."  
Meanwhile Nicki snapped out of her shock. Crying she ran over to Steve and hugged him tightly. "Oh honey, I was so scared, I missed you so much," she sobbed in his ear. "Never ever scare me like that again, promise me that."  
Steve smiled enjoying her warm body wrapped around his. "I promise," he said, "I'm sorry that I scared you, but now everything is fine, ok?" She nodded. He smiled at her, then added: "Well... as long as you don't mind that I'm not a witch..."  
"WHAT?" Nicki exclaimed, scared that he had lost his powers or something.  
But Steve just grinned: "Yeah...it seems my biological father was a demon... and my mom is an Elder, so... no witch-blood inside of me."  
Nicki looked at him confused, then she slapped him on his chest: "Damned Steve, you shall NOT scare me," she said smiling, and then added: "as if I would mind whatever you are as long as you love me..." Steve smiled widely and then kissed her full of love.  
Bianca was smiling, too. Turning to Piper she whispered: "Seems Paige is not the only one in loooooooooove... By the way, where are Phoebe and Cole?"

°°°°°°°°°°

Upstairs in the attic, Phoebe and Cole lied on the sofa, kissing each other. Then Phoebe rose a little. Slowly she began to open his shirt, teasingly.  
"I still don't understand," Cole managed to say, while his wife was kissing his exposed skin, "how you had been able to contact me telephatically."  
Phoebe move to kiss his lips again, to make him stop talking. But Cole pushed her softly away and looked at her still questioning.  
She sighed: "Ok... I really don't know... maybe it was that place or my powers are increasing, I don't know... what does it matter?"  
"Maybe we should ask Chris or Leo about it, or..."  
Phoebe interrupted him frustrated: "NOT NOW!" She paused looking into his confused eyes. Then she added: "Now I want only you."  
And again she kissed him and moved her hands slowly over his skin, making him moan in pleasure.

°°°°°°°°°°

Half an hour, and an room-cleaning-spell later, Chris orbed back to the manor, where the others were waiting for him. The Elder-witch sat down next to his wife, kissing her. Bianca smiled, glad to have them back, and took Hope to her arms. Wyatt who was still sleeping on the sofa, too, turned around to lay his head against Chris's side, as if he felt that his brother was back... actually he did feel it.  
"So...?" Piper asked, after she had given his son a moment to 'say hello'.  
"So... what?" Chris asked back.  
"The source," Leo said, "what do you have to do with him?"  
Chris sighed: "Nothing... he's just..."  
"But you trust him, you're working with him," Steve said and Chris could hear that there was still anger in his voice.  
"NO! I don't trust him, not completely," he explained. "Look... What I know is, that he has created an organisation or something that helps people..."  
"What people?" Nicki asked.  
The Elder-witch shrugged: "Every kind of people... He's trying to keep the balance, the status quo... Wyatt said..."  
Piper jumped up: "Wyatt?"  
"Yeah Wyatt!" Chris sighed again. "Wyatt said that Belthazor got more from Cole when they had been reunited, than that knowledge about the school... and that changed him somehow. He's helping people, who are treated in a wrong way. He already helped us...!"  
"WHAT?" Paige asked leaving her coolness behind. The source had never helped her, had he?  
"He did... you know, Belthazor has - as weird as this sounds - a good friend. Someone you all already know."  
"Julian," Bianca said, kind of absent. Slowly she began to understand.  
Chris nodded: "Yeah, Julian... They helped us with Zankou, they helped us when mini-me was born, they helped us with Rhashirk, they came up with the potion to save the babies and Tom..." Everyone kept silent, thinking about that.  
"So Wyatt told you about that demonic bar as a way to contact them?" Leo asked.  
His son nodded again: "And I got the feeling that he knew them both very well..." Again he paused looking into the others confused faces. "Look," he then went on, "I don't say that I trust him, but I think if we're both fighting against the same enemy, why shouldn't we work together?"  
Steve looked at Chris with a mixture of confusion and doubt. But then he nodded, hugging Nicki a little more closer. Steve couldn't deny that the source did nothing to hurt them, that he in fact treated them very human.  
Paige sighed: "Well... I guess Phoebe and Cole will be anything else but happy about those news."  
Chris shrugged: "They already know."  
"WHAT?" everyone exclaimed at the same time.  
At that moment Chris heard a jingle in his head: "The Elders, they are calling me..."  
"What do they want?" Bianca asked scared. She knew that a lot of them up there didn't like her husband very much... even if they would never show it... And after all what had happened...  
Chris looked to his father who shrugged. "I'll be right back," he said then with a sigh and orbed away.

°°°°°°°°°°

When Chris appeared up there in one of the open places, Silas stood there waiting for him. The expression of the Elder was a serious one, which made Chris nervous. What did they want form him?  
"Come one," Silas said with a calm but friendly voice, "the others are waiting for you." Chris lowered his eyes but didn't move. "Hey, what are you waiting for?" the Elder asked.  
Chris swallowed and looked at him: "It's just... I... I thought I doesn't want this, that I would be happy to give those Elder-powers back. But... after those things that happened, I'm not so sure anymore..."  
Silas nodded smiling: "Come on my friend... there is no need to worry." Chris sighed again and then followed the Elder.  
They went through the halls of this, somehow holy world. And Chris realised with every step, that he would miss this place, even if he felt always so bored when he was up there. But maybe it was better this way. He was still afraid of ending up like Rhashirk some day... and he really didn't want that.  
The Elder lead Chris to the oracle chamber. 'What do they want to do here?' the Elder-witch thought. When Silas opened the huge doors, Chris could see that nearly every Elder was there, looking at him expectantly, wondering, smiling. The Elder-witch frowned, that was all so confusing.  
Then Odin stepped out of the crowed. "Hello my friend," he said.  
"Ok," Chris said, "what the hell is going on here?"  
Some of the Elders started to mumble about Chris's choice of words, but Odin just smiled. "Chris, we had a surprisingly short discussion about you... And..." Odin's smile turned to a grin, when he saw the annoyed look on his friend's face, "we talked to the oracle again."  
"And? Did it tell you that you shall..."  
"Well," Odin interrupted him, "I guess you should find out on your own what it has to say."  
Chris frowned again. He hesitated a moment, when Odin stepped aside and freed the way for him. He sighed. What choice did he have? He nodded and went nearer to the oracle.  
First nothing happened. Chris wasn't sure if that was a good or bad sign. At least the oracle wasn't shaking. Then the young man was hit by a weave of pictures, scenes.  
He saw himself... fighting against demons, lot's of demons. But those pictures weren't only bad. He also saw himself with his family, with his wife and his children. He saw himself sitting in the garden of the manor, with Bianca on his side, watching his children play with his cousins. He saw Wyatt who was freaking out to see him, same as Christopher, saw them both ran to him as soon as he entered the manor. He saw a very proud Piper and an even more proud Leo. He saw his cousins again, who all adored him. And he saw himself at the school, with his students, saw them graduate. And he saw the Elders and the upper world which was filled with laughter and happiness. He even saw himself growing old... happily...  
When it was over Chris sank down to his knees exhausted. But even if this was strange, he felt very peaceful deep down inside him.  
Breathing heavily he looked up. But before he could say something a white light was coming out of the oracle. It was like a stream of energy bubbling out of it. Chris eyes grew wide when he saw that light streaming through the air and over to him. He struggled to stand up, to step back. But the light hit him in his chest.  
Chris expected the worst pain in the world, but it was nothing like that. It was warm and light, it was lighten up his emotion, he felt like flying.  
Then it was over.  
Slowly he turned around to face the others. He thought he would see anger and fear, as always when something strange happened to him, but he didn't. All he saw was hope, pride, happiness, kindness and joy... and a huge smile on Silas' and Odin's faces. "What was that?" Chris asked.  
"Let's say... The oracle accepted you," Odin explained.  
"What?" Chris exclaimed, not understanding a single word of that and getting a little bit frustrated.  
Silas stepped a little forward. "We discussed what to do with you... and of course we asked the oracle. And we saw the same things you have just seen."  
"You saved us," Jeremiah took over the word. And Chris was surprised that his voice sounded friendly. "you saved the world so much often. And now we understand, that being good doesn't mean never to do bad things. It means doing the right things."  
"And you have a kind of feeling for the right things, Chris," Odin said.  
The Elder-witch shook his head: "I still don't understand... What did you do to me?"  
"Chris, yours is a special case," Silas explained. "You're a mortal, a witch, who was blessed with the powers of the Elders. You are an Elder now, but still you're mortal."  
"But we just figured out, that we need somebody like you... a link to the world outside which has changed so much in the last thousand years," Jeremiah said.  
Now Chris rose his eyebrows. It's true, sometimes he thought some of the rules up there were kind of out-dated, but...  
"Chris, you've been giving a huge gift..." Odin talked again. "We guarantee you immortality."  
"WHAT?" the Elder-witch exclaimed not believing his ears.  
"It's already in you... you will live your life to the fullest, hopefully... you will grow older happily... and when the time will come, your mortal body will die... but not you. When your time down there is over, you will join us up here and help us to keep the balance, the peace."  
Chris shook his head. 'What? How could you do that without asking me?' he thought. What if he didn't want to live forever in those holy halls up there...? But he didn't complain. Deep down inside he felt that this was right, that this was his place, when the time would come. So his head's moves changed form shaking to nodding. "Thanks," he said. Odin and Jeremiah nodded smiling while Silas just hugged his friend.  
After a while Chris freed himself when another thought crossed his mind. "Wait," he said, "could you do me a favour?"

°°°°°°°°°°

Everyone looked up when Chris orbed back to the manor, one fist clenched tightly, but with a smile on his face. "What happened?" Bianca and Piper asked, while the first one hugged him. Leo looked at his son worried.  
Chris grinned: "The oracle showed me a little of the bright future that is waiting for me, a future with lot's of people I love and care about." His smile grew even wider when he noticed the confused looks on the faces of his family, but especially that one of Bianca. So he gave her a kiss on her nose before speaking again. "And..." he went on making the tension in the room rise, "they want me to keep my job, and they said I will not die, when I die... I will just go up there..."  
"What?" everyone exclaimed confused, except Leo who had a slight idea what his son was talking about.  
He went over to Chris and hugged him: "I'm very proud of you son."  
"Thanks dad," Chris replied with a smile. His father had no idea how much that meant to him.  
Then, while Leo tried to explain the things to his wife and the others, Chris turned around like he was seeking for something. "Hey Julian!" he yelled suddenly, "I know you're listening so... just come over here for a second."  
The others exchanged confused looks. What was Chris meaning with 'listening'?  
But before they had a chance to think about it, Julian shimmered in, in front of Chris. "What do you want?" he asked kind of annoyed.  
Chris smiled: "Well, I... we owe you and your friend a lot... and I wanted to say thanks."  
Julian frowned: "Ok, now you did it... But did you really have to tell them?"  
"Yeah," the Elder-witch smiled, "because they are my family... all of them. And I hope you understand why I said what I said."  
Julian shrugged: "Whatever..." He never really believed that Chris would trust them unconditionally, but he didn't mind that.  
He was about to leave again but Chris hold him back. "Wait... don't forget your gift..." he said. And while the colored witch turned around to him, looking at him questioning, Chris opened his fist. Everyone watched surprised as a bluish light came out of it and went into the man's body.  
"The power of sensing," Leo muttered. Piper looked at him shocked. She wanted to say something but didn't know what.  
Julian just kept his now glassy eyes fixed on Chris: "I don't understand... why? I mean... I never asked again, I..."  
"Because you deserve this," the Elder-witch said, "use it wise..."  
Julian nodded. "Thanks... Well, if we can ever help you..."  
Chris nodded: "Yeah... dito." He paused a moment, then added: "Best wishes to your friend." Julian nodded, then he shimmered away.

°°°°°°°°°°

Later that day Chris and Bianca lied in their bed in their small apartment, with Hope again in the middle of them. The little girl was now sleeping peacefully, after she had cried again for several hours. "She's beautiful, isn't she?" Chris asked.  
Bianca nodded: "I can't believe that we almost lost her." Her voice broke as again the fear was taking over her mind.  
"Hey," Chris said, caressing her cheek lovingly, "she is fine, and she will be fine... don't worry."  
Bianca nodded, and looked at their daughter again. She was really the greatest gift in the whole wide world.  
Chris suddenly smiled: "Well, I guess if this is going on like that, with her sleeping between the two of us... it will really take some time for her to get a brother or sister."  
Bianca swallowed, pushing herself up on her elbows: "Do you really mean that? You... you want another child?" They hadn't really talked about that, but after all what happened she thought it was maybe too much of a risk...  
"Well... not at the moment, but... in the future... You don't?"  
The Phoenix hesitated before answering honestly: "I'd love to... but... I'm afraid... I'm afraid to die the next time..."  
Chris looked at her, understanding her worries. He sighed and rose a little himself to give her a soft and loving kiss: "I'll promise you, you will not die... because now we know the danger, right? So we could use this spell a lot earlier... I'm sure everything will be fine if we do that."  
Bianca smiled weakly... she was still afraid of that thought. And there was still that weird dream she had, which was still very lively in her mind. But on the other hand, she always wanted a huge family. And Chris had said the oracle had shown him his future. So he should know if she would be fine... "I love you Christopher Perry Halliwell."  
"I love you, too," he answered and kissed her again.

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_(Chapter 11 written by Belén and Chrissy.W.x)_

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**_Ok... So much for Part Nine of our series. I hope you all liked and enjoyed it! "A Charmed Story - Part Ten" is already on it's way. The first chapter - after a majority-decision - will be up on Friday, August 17th... So... Thank you all for your wonderful support. And... stay tuned!_**


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